TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Goa Police has started a Short Message Service (SMS) cautioning the general public to avoid falling prey to fictitious offers, lottery winnings or offers for remittance of funds into one’s account from foreign countries through SMSes, calls or emails.
The initiative has been launched in the wake of complaints from various individuals alleging they have been duped through mobile or online frauds. The North Goa district police have already started sending messages to create awareness and combat digital media advertising frauds.
The message essentially informs the public that no bank or respectable organization would call, send SMS or e-mails to individuals about lottery prizes, transfer of funds received from abroad or for making bank accounts or credit/debit cards more secure.
During a press conference, Deputy Inspector General of Police V Renganathan said on Thursday that email requests for submission of personal data such as bank account number, mobile number and passport details for claiming so-called lottery prizes should be ignored. Several such cases have been reported to the cyber crime cell, some of which have been transferred from the respective police stations.
In what is touted as an impressive record for the newly-set up cyber crime cell headed by SP Kartik Kashyap, a total of 346 fake profiles and objectionable postings on various social media sites were deleted during the last calendar year by the Cell. It also claimed dealing effectively with 146 e-commerce fraud cases and prevented loss to victims to the tune of approximately Rs 12 lakh. In its list of successes, the cyber cell solved website hacking cases including that of Raj Bhavan by tracing the involvement of international hacker. The vulnerability that led to the Governor’s website was also detected and necessary rectification done. In yet another case, the cell had arrested a Delhi constable who had opened 36 bank accounts in various banks and had duped a reputed bank in Goa to the tune of around Rs 25.46 lakh.
