Thiruvananthapuram: All police stations in the state will soon accept complaints of online financial fraud instead of routing them to cyber police stations.
The move follows a direction in this regard by the Director General of Police (DGP) Sheikh Darvesh Sahib to all District Police Chiefs. The state police chief explained the nature and process of such cases in a crime review meeting of the District Police Chiefs.
Till now, the local police used to direct all complaints of cyber fraud to the cyber police stations, the specialized units directly under the District Police Chiefs. The single cyber stations in each district are finding it difficult to cope with the rising number of online fraud complaints, affecting their efficiency. Additionally, there are complaints about local police stations not helping people who report lost money, instead directing them to cyber police. The latest direction includes the following measures.
- The cyber police station in a district will not directly lodge cases on complaints of online fraud.
- The local police should register cases on complaints relating to cyber frauds that took place within their limits.
- The cases that involve a huge amount of money and those requiring more technological expertise should be brought to the notice of the district police chiefs. The officers, in turn, will hand over such cases to the cyber police after due verification.
- In cases relating to loan apps, the local police should register the case and hand it over to the cyber station concerned. For, only the state cyber operations wing is capable of tracing the origin of these apps and initiating steps for banning them.
- Complaints over defamation through Facebook or online frauds of smaller sums should be investigated by the local police itself. The accused, in such cases, can be traced by the cyber wing in each station. The arrests can be made as soon as the District cyber cell hands over the IP address of the computer or cell phone used by the accused.
50 cases registered on average
Although the state is witnessing over 300 cyber fraud complaints on a daily basis, only about 50 cases are registered on average. The majority of the complainants tend to back out after passing on information by expressing unwillingness to pursue a case. The frauds taking place through loan apps account for less than five percent of the total cyber cases, while frauds through online trading account for the bulk of these cases – 45 percent.
Give a ring to 1930
If you lose money through cyber fraud, instantly ring up 1930 and inform. The number belongs to the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the central home department. The complainants stand a chance to retrieve their lost money upon raising a complaint instantly on losing money. Follow this up with a complaint to the local police. The process of retrieving lost money can be completed only after the local police registers a case.
