Team Herald
PANJIM: An interactive Cyber Crime awareness programme was organised by Cyber Crime Police Station in collaboration with the Directorate of Panchayats at Altinho, focusing on educating sarpanchas and village leaders on essential digital safety practices.
The programme led by Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) Rahul Gupta, IPS along with DySP (Cyber Crime) Ashish Shirodkar and Cyber Crime PI in-charge Deepak Pednekar covered topics such as identifying cyber threats, understanding online fraud schemes and preventing data breaches.
PI Vidyanand Pawar provided hands-on training on secure online practices, highlighting how sarpanchas can help raise awareness and prevent fraud in their villages.
Key highlights of the session included basics of Cyber safety: An overview of common cyber threats such as phishing, social media scams, and UPI frauds; Protecting Personal Information: Techniques for secure online transactions and safeguarding digital identities; Reporting Mechanisms: Guidance on how to report cybercrime incidents effectively through the 1930 and National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and Awareness Initiatives: Suggestions for local campaigns to spread awareness about cybercrime prevention among villagers.
The event was attended by over 120 sarpanchas across Goa, all of whom expressed a commitment to implement the safety practices discussed. “In today’s digital age, it is essential that our village leaders understand the risks of cybercrime and are prepared to help their communities stay safe online.”
The Cyber Crime Police Station encouraged sarpanchas to organise the awareness sessions in their jurisdiction and call Cyber Cell staff and student volunteers being mobilised for this purpose.