The number of cyber crime applications in Pune, within the first six months of 2017, had crossed the total number of applications for 2016, according to Pune police. The cyber crime cell recently released statistics claiming that the amount recovered from these complaints had doubled compared to 2016. However, some complainants do not receive the complete amount in refund for various reasons.
Of the total number of applications received by the cyber crime cell, the police have managed to get some refund, if not full, in 123 cases. The number is almost twice the number of cases which received a refund in 2016 - 66. In the 123 cases, the complainants got a collective refund of Rs.60,24,962. Whereas, the police managed to get refund worth Rs.23,57,092 collectively from the 66 cases in 2016.
To provide perspective, in 2016, the cyber crime cell received 1,398 complaints, of which, 738 were credit card related, 41 were loan frauds and 145 were job frauds. Up till September 2017, 3,123 complaints were received, of which, 2,350 were credit card related, 54 were loan frauds and 196 were job frauds.
In a possible effort to provide benefit of doubt to the cyber crime cell, a statement from Sudhir Hiremath, deputy commissioner of police, cyber crime and economic offence wing, read, “When we get a complaint, the cyber crime cell sends an email to the recipient merchant, informing them that the said transaction is fraudulent and, asking them to stop the transaction. It takes some time for the money to be transferred from the complainant's account to the merchant and from the merchant to the seller. If the people approach the cyber cell within this period, it helps the police stop the transaction in time. Since these frauds are committed from outside Maharashtra, it is difficult to recover the money once it is spent. If the complainant approaches cyber crime cell within 2-4 hours, it becomes easier to recover the money.”
{{/usCountry}}In a possible effort to provide benefit of doubt to the cyber crime cell, a statement from Sudhir Hiremath, deputy commissioner of police, cyber crime and economic offence wing, read, “When we get a complaint, the cyber crime cell sends an email to the recipient merchant, informing them that the said transaction is fraudulent and, asking them to stop the transaction. It takes some time for the money to be transferred from the complainant's account to the merchant and from the merchant to the seller. If the people approach the cyber cell within this period, it helps the police stop the transaction in time. Since these frauds are committed from outside Maharashtra, it is difficult to recover the money once it is spent. If the complainant approaches cyber crime cell within 2-4 hours, it becomes easier to recover the money.”
{{/usCountry}}Lieutenant Colonel Anurag Mishra, a resident of Wanowrie defence area, was duped for Rs.2,00,000 on his credit card which is jointly owned by Lieutenant Colonel Shelka Dua. While speaking to Hindustan Times, Lt Col Mishra said that the police were not cooperative while filing the case.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directives (Customer Protection – Limiting Liability of Customers in Unauthorised Electronic Banking Transactions) make it mandatory for a complaint to be filed within three days for complete recovery of the money. While around Rs.1,80,000 was refunded to the army officials’ credit card, the bank asked them to pay the remaining amount of around Rs.20,000.
Another complainant was duped by a person on the phone, claiming to be a representative of the state Bank of India (SBI), of Rs.1,99,990. He received a refund of Rs.76,701. In another case, a person was duped for Rs.49,000 after he shared his credentials and the confidential password with a person on the phone claiming to be from Bank of Baroda. The money was transferred through Mpesa, BookMyShow. A refund of Rs.19,700 was made. In all three cases, neither of them have received a complete refund of their money.