BCalling upon the banks to strengthen their security systems against online frauds, Haryana’s Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Cyber, OP Singh on Sunday emphasized the need for swift action to counter cyber crimes. He highlighted that delays in reporting cybercrimes and slow responses from banks have led to significant losses for victims.
ADGP Singh said that investigations into cybercrime cases have revealed that victims often take an average of 14 hours to report the incidents, sometimes extending up to 38 hours. This delay provides fraudsters with ample time to transfer defrauded amounts to fake bank accounts, making recovery challenging, he said.
He noted that despite prompt alerts from the police to banks after complaints are registered on the cybercrime.gov.in portal, banks take approximately five to 11 hours to respond, resulting in further delays in blocking the transferred funds. He expressed concern over the alarming situation, where only 25 per cent of the reported fraudulent amount could be successfully blocked due to delays on the part of banks.
Highlighting the need for immediate action, the ADGP stressed that while it takes the police an average of eight minutes to report cyber fraud to banks, the response time from banks is significantly longer. He urged the banks to improve their response mechanisms to cybercrime reports from citizens to mitigate losses.
As part of efforts to address the issue, ADGP mentioned a pilot project where bank representatives are stationed at the Cyber Helpline Center in Panchkula to promptly address complaints of cyber fraud. However, he emphasized that the response time from banks remains slow, with an average delay of 14 hours in acting on complaints compared to the police's eight-minute response time.
He also highlighted ongoing awareness programs conducted by the police to educate the public about the importance of immediate reporting of suspicious online activities. He emphasized the responsibility of the Cyber Police to thoroughly investigate cases, verify transactions, and promptly restore 'hold' bank accounts after verifying the transactions.
