Shimla cyber cell getting 1 complaint daily

Tribune News Service

Bhanu P Lohumi
Shimla, April 13

Jamtara in Jharkhand, Bharatpur in Rajasthan and Mewat in Haryana have emerged as the hotspots of financial cyber frauds as 80 per cent complaints received by the cyber cell, Shimla, in the first three months of the year are linked to these places.

As many as 92 complaints of frauds had been received in the first three months of the year by the cyber cell of Shimla. On an average, the cyber cell is receiving one complaint every day. The number increases to seven per day on an average in the state.

Cyber gangs from Jamtara in Jharkhand mostly pretend to be bank representatives and ask for the KYC update and seek details and OTP by making the victim believe that their ATM card is blocked. Investigations of cases have revealed that the organised network is working in Jamtara and coaching is given to execute cyber frauds, said Ravi Kumar, officer in the cyber cell.

The criminals are divided into three categories. Callers make fraud calls and dupe innocent customers. Bankers use Aadhaar card of poor people to open bank accounts for transactions and property dealers invest the stolen money in assets.

“A complaint was received in which the victim was duped of Rs 1.40 lakh. During investigation, the mobile used for the crime was traced to Alachua village in Jamtara district of Jharkhand and a police team was sent to arrest the accused,” said Dikshit Sharma of cyber cell, Shimla, who was part of the team.

It was a slum area with one door leading to several houses and the village watchman misguided us and all male members of the village fled. The second day when we caught hold of the accused, women gathered and started pelting us with stones, he said, adding that the family of the accused returned the money, but did not allow the police to arrest the accused.

The modus operandi of cyber criminals operating from Mewat (Haryana) is making fake Facebook IDs and sending mails to friends seeking monetary help while criminals in Bharatpur (Rajasthan) are indulging in selling and purchasing goods on OLX by impersonating Army officers and sending fake links.

Police team misled in Jharkhand

• A police team visited a slum area in Jharkhand where one door of a house led to several houses
• The village watchman also misguided the police and in the mean time, all male members of the village fled
• The second day when the police caught hold of the accused, women gathered and started pelting them with stones
• The accused’s kin returned the money, but did not allow the police to arrest him

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