New Delhi: At a time when law enforcing agencies have started adopting the latest methods besides creating a massive awareness drive against cybercrimes, government data has revealed that 14,41,717 cybercrime cases have been registered across India from January 1 till November 11 this year.
The cases involve the most trending cyber scams including investment scams, part-time job scams, instant loans, digital arrests, dating scams, refund scams, fake gaming apps, cyber slavery, sextortion, and money transferred by mistake among others.
Government data revealed that people across the country have lost an amount of Rs 120.3 crore in the digital arrest scam in the first quarter of this year. There were 100,360 cases registered involving investment and job scams in which Rs 3,216 crore have been reported lost.
According to the data, a total of Rs 19,888.42 crore have been lost in several cyber crimes across the country from January 1 to November 11 this year. Interestingly, to make people aware about all these cyber scams, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has been doing a massive awareness drive at the ongoing 43rd India International Trade Fair (IITF) here.
Talking to ETV Bharat, Dr Deepak Kumar, a senior official from the I4C said that they are getting good response with people from all age groups coming to their exhibition and enquiring about the cyber scams and how to tackle them.
"Through this awareness drive, we are trying to make people aware about the different scams which are on trending. The present top crimes that are targeting people across the country include investment scams, digital arrests, dating scams, and work-from-home scams," said Kumar.
Significantly, during a Mann Ki Baat program, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned the public about a rising “digital arrest” scam where fraudsters impersonate law enforcement or government officials to intimidate victims and extort money.
Referring to the I4C initiative, Kumar said that people can call the 1930 helpline number with all the details to get immediate support. "People can also visit our website cybercrime.com to know about the scams and register their complaint," Kumar said.
"We get over 6,000 cases in our portal every day. We have also blocked several fake numbers and applications in connection with the cybercrime," said Kumar.
Interestingly, the I4C stall at the IITF has also displayed a few cut outs including mega cine star Amitabh Bachchan from the film Shahenshah which says "Naam hai Cyberdost. Cybercrime se hay bachna”, and crime master"Gogo".
"We are using these cutouts because they can attract people. People are fans of Amitabh Bachchan. So, we have displayed these cut-outs to inform the public about such cybercrime," said Kumar.
“We are getting good response from the visitors," he added.
Kallol Bhaumik, a visitor at the I4C exhibition expressed his excitement to know about the several strategies initiated by the I4C to tackle cybercrime.
"Day by day incidents of cybercrime are increasing. Although the government has adopted several strategies besides deputing designated departments to tackle and fight against cybercrime, the government needs to do a lot to fight cybercrime,” said Bhaumik who is also a journalist.
Bhaumik recalled that he was also a victim of cybercrime. “Once, I lost thousands of rupees, while sharing an OTP with a person who pretended to be an official from a reputed company,” said Bhaumik.
I4C established by the Union Home Ministry, has been assigned to provide a framework and eco-system for law enforcement agencies for dealing with cybercrime in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.
