Panchkula: Haryana Police working hard in fast increasing cyber crime control across India and is constantly working to improve the cyber security system and their efforts are putting Haryana on the national map for effectively tackling cybercrime and protecting people being robbed. “Significant Improvement in ranking, in September 2023 Haryana Police ranked 23rd in the country for cyber crime control. However, due to focused efforts, they achieved a significant improvement and reached the top spot by March 2024. Their success is inspiring other states to implement similar strategies,” Talking to media persons the Director General of Police Shatrujit Kapur, after taking charge in late 2023, prioritized cyber crime control. He formed a dedicated team and conducted pilot projects with banks also. The number of staff assigned to handle cyber fraud calls on the helpline number was doubled. Haryana Police partnered with banks to freeze bank accounts involved in cyber fraud.
This collaboration significantly increased the success rate. An effective action plan to prevent cyber fraud was developed with senior officials from RBI and telecom companies. ADGP Cyber OP Singh said that Haryana Police launched ‘Operation Cyber Aakrman’ from April 1 to 10 this year. A joint initiative between Haryana Police and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C), has yielded significant results. Utilizing the Pratibimb mobile app, authorities tracked and apprehended 84 cybercriminals, with a notable concentration in Nuh district. Additionally, in coordination with telecom companies, Haryana Police blocked 70,000 mobile numbers associated with cybercrime, and successfully apprehended 11 bank employees involved in facilitating fraudulent activities.
Director General of Police Kapur met with senior bank officials and emphasized the importance of following RBI guidelines seriously to prevent cyber fraud. He stressed the importance of robust EKYC practices to prevent the opening of fake accounts used for illicit transfers. Kapur warned of punitive measures against banks failing to safeguard their customers’ deposits, signaling a zero-tolerance approach towards negligence. Addressing the prevalence of mule accounts, Kapoor underscored the need for banks to scrutinize their practices and promptly close such accounts to thwart cybercriminal activities. It was informed in the meeting that currently about 31 percent of the cyber fraud amount is being frozen by the State Bank of India, which is commendable. For this, the Director General of Police congratulated the team of State Bank of India and said that he would appreciate the efforts made by his bank in this direction.
Senior bank officials obtained detailed information about the process of preventing cyber fraud through the workstations established there, and impressed by this, a few private banks immediately appointed its nodal officer in the control room of Haryana Police.
It is noteworthy that common people are being made victims of cyber fraud by cyber criminals by adopting different methods luring people into investing in different types of schemes in the name of investment, getting loans from banks immediately, various gift schemes, posing as relatives to demand money and attraction of female face book friendship and many other ways, due to which people fall into their trap and become victims of cyber fraud. There have been cases, by posing as officials of CBI, ED, and TRAI, cybercriminals are making people victims of cyber fraud by threatening them with arrest. Apart from this, online task-based frauds are being done by giving people the lure of a job, work from home, insurance, online work, salary, etc. DGP KAPUR appealed to the general public not to fall for any kind of temptation and to do a thorough investigation of the facts, otherwise they may become victims of cyber fraud. He said In case of cyber fraud, people should contact helpline number 1930 as soon as possible.
