Gurugram, Panchkula and other districts of Haryana saw a sharp spike in cyber crime amidst Covid-19 pandemic, with a majority of them targeting elderly, women and children.
The main modus operandi seems to be cyber attackers pretending to be bank officials making calls or sending emails or SMSes to people, asking them for their account numbers, credit or debit card numbers, CVV, OTP among others.
Talking to ‘The Pioneer’ over phone, Gurugram Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Nitika Gahlaut on Tuesday said that from January to April, 2020, 36 cyber crime cases were reported while figures from April to August revealed that 128 such cases were reported in Gurugram district. In 2019, a total of 118 cyber crime cases were registered while only 48 such cases in 2018, she added.
A senior police officer said that as per these cyber crime figures, such cases increased during the period of the lockdown and ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. People are accessing social media websites such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc., more frequently in addition to watching movies and web-series by subscribing to web channels and also indulging in online games by installing various applications.
People tend to provide or give permissions to access their personal information readily available on their phones, laptops and/or social media accounts in order to use the services provided by the applications. Many times, in order to purchase apps or access online services, financial information too is shared by the users, he added.
More older people, women and girls are using the internet for varied purposes including education, work, financial transactions among others during lockdown and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Many of these people could be first-time users and/or may have a limited understanding of good practices when interacting with others in cyberspace.
“Taking advantage of this, several cyber fraudsters have started calling up people posing as bank officials and asking them for their bank details and One Time Password (OTP) if they wish to delay their loans equated monthly instalment (EMI) among others,” another police official said.
Panchkula Cyber Crime Police Station official said that as per the investigation of the complaints received, complainants received dubious calls by persons claiming to be branch manager or employee of some bank while telling the people that their ATM card has been blocked. In some cases, the accused make illegal bank transactions through online shopping, mobile recharge, money transfer and other means, spiriting away money from the victims’ bank accounts. Meanwhile, one of the fastest-growing types of fraud is online payment. Fraudsters make fake websites and offer some discounts or profit on online items to victims and illegally ask them to share one time password and other bank details. Fraudsters sitting in far flung areas of the country dupe innocent people of lakhs of rupees on a daily basis.
One of the complainants stated that she had purchased items worth Rs 8,000 online. She received several calls from a person claiming to be a company representative. As per the representative’s direction, she shared OTP number related to her account and Rs 8,000 was withdrawn. But items were not delivered.
Fraudsters also have been making phone calls to unsuspecting people to collect their personal details including bank account credentials to eventually dupe them of lakhs of rupees -- by luring them into the trap of the “KBC Lottery”.
In her complaint, a woman complainant said she received a WhatsApp call from a dubious number and was told that she won Rs 25 lakh in the “KBC lottery”. She was then asked to call another mobile number through Whatsapp and talk to SK Gupta, who would provide her the details of the prize money. The woman, who had no clue about the scam, fell into the trap. She was asked to deposit several lakhs of rupees towards “GST and processing fees” in multiple Indian bank accounts. The accused eventually duped her of lakhs of rupees.
When contacted, DCP Panchkula, Mohit Handa said that a significant number of cyber crime cases are being reported at Panchkula Cyber Crime Police Station on a daily basis. Such cases increased during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Internet-users should be more aware of cyber risks and counter measures. Awareness is being made through different mediums among people of different sections of society including senior citizens, women and children. “Awareness campaign is being done on multiple online platforms, newspapers and other mediums, with an aim to amplify the sensitisation during the critical times of Covid-19 on cyber crime,” he added.