Recently, Cyber Crime Police arrested a Margao resident for allegedly creating a fake Instagram ID of his former girlfriend and posting nude and objectionable photographs. The accused was booked under section 67 B of IT Act and Section 8 of Goa Children’s Act. The Cyber Crime Police were able to trace the creator of the ID and later traced the person at Margao. The accused was arrested on December 21, 2023, in early hours.
Previously, on December 19, 2023, the Cyber Police identified 9 Instagram IDs of minor girls from elite city school in the capital city of Panjim who posted morphed video tarnishing images of other minor girls for personal revenge.
On December 13, 2023, a retired senior citizen parted with Rs 1.18 crore. He received a phone call from pretending to be from a courier company and his parcael was intercepted by Mumbai Crime Branch with drugs and in the efforts to settle the matter, a retired senior citizen of a reputed company parted with Rs 1.18 crore.
The recent back to back cases have increased the fears of Goans on Cyber Crimes and their vulnerability to be conned. According to the Cyber Crime Police Station, Ribandar, in 2021, a total of 24 cases related to cybercrime were registered, while in 2022 the number of cases were 49 and in 2023 it registered 30 cases.
Out of these 103 cases registered during the last three years, 34 were disposed of, chargesheet were filed in 25 cases and nine were waiting for order. Rest of the cases are under investigation.
With smartphones being almost in the hands of everybody, including children and senior citizens, their vulnerability to cybercrime attacks has increased. The coastal State too is witnessing a worrisome increase in hacking attempts and online scams, leaving the elderly population vulnerable and, in some cases, causing them to lose their hard-earned money.
The Cyber Police during the investigations narrowed down on a particular pattern. During the investigation the sleuths observed that there were multiple transfers of the amount. Some parts of the amount were transferred to Abu Dhabi.
In view of the recent incidents, the Cyber Crime Branch of Goa Police have advised senior citizens and minors to be extra cautious and their families to keep watch on use of internet and bank accounts. The Cyber Crime Police have appealed to the public to exercise caution while using social media.
“Senior citizens and minors should be extra cautious and their families should keep watch on the use of the internet and bank accounts. People must think that they cannot win any lottery if they have not bought anything. Minor girls and other girls should be cautious as regards to sharing messages and photos with their boyfriends and other friends,” the CyberCrime branch of Goa Police stated in a statement.
“Upon a dispute in a relationship, partners use those photos to blackmail or spoil their name. Whenever there is demand for any money by any authority, the concerned office should be contacted physically. The Internet is a web. When we are linked to the web, we are available to the whole world. Our cautiousness will save us,” the statement added.
In the monsoon session of the State Legislative Assembly this year, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had informed the House that the State saw 159 cybercrime cases since 2019 and almost 72 percent of them i.e. 115 were related to financial frauds.
In a reply tabled on the floor of the House by the Chief Minister, who also holds home portfolio, said cybercrime cases in Goa are on a steady rise since 2019 as per the data.
As many as 21 cybercrime cases, including financial frauds, online harassment, hacking of social media accounts, bullying etc were registered in Goa from January 2019 till June 30, 2023.
“In addition to Cyber Crime Police Station, all other Police Stations in Goa are well equipped to investigate Cyber fraud cases. Further, if the need arises, the case is transferred to Cyber Crime Police Station,” the Chief Minister had said.
Further, if the need arises, the cases are transferred to Cyber Crime Police Station.
He had said that the cybercrime cases from all police stations were being transferred to the cybercrime cell and that complainants need not file the case at the cell only.
EXERCISE CAUTION
The Cyber Crime Branch has advised people to exercise caution while sharing personal information, data.
Speaking to O Heraldo, Cyber Crime Police Station Police Inspector (PI) Satish Padwalkar said, “We have started using computers, mobile phones. Those who are senior citizens have started using mobile phones late. They conduct financial transactions and fall prey to scams. So, youngsters, who are well-versed with the use of mobile phones or computers, should keep a watch on them or help them in doing the transactions. Same thing applies to children as well.”
During Covid-19 pandemic, many people, including children, started using mobile phones. But now it has developed into a habit.
“Most of the children are now with mobile phones. Parents need to track what their kids are doing, what are the websites they are surfing. If there is no control on them then untoward incidents take place. For example, recently a minor school going girl shared her nude photos with her boyfriend. But the boyfriend, after a break-up, created a fake ID and posted those photos on social media. This is how your information or photos could be misused later,” PI Padwalkar said.
“We share our information when the relationship is going well. But when the relationship turns sour, then the same information is used for the wrong purpose. Minor girls share their photos with their boyfriends when they are in a relationship. But when there is a break-up, the boyfriends or even other girls, in order to take revenge, morph the photos and share them on social media,” he said.
“In case of financial transactions, we need to physically visit bank branches and enquire about the safety features, mainly related to internet banking. Bank does not seek data or information like passwords from its customers. They ask you to come to the bank branch and then share the information. They have a proper laid down system. They do not seek information over the phone,” Padwalkar said.
“Now, everybody is connected to the internet. But the internet has benefits as well as drawbacks. One need to be cautious. In a recent case, one senior citizen was cheated. He received a call stating that his parcel was intercepted at Mumbai Crime Branch and some drugs were found in that parcel. They asked the complaint to settle the case and kept on repeatedly calling him. After speaking to them for two days, he fell prey to their game plan and parted with Rs 1.18 crore. But as they demanded more money he developed suspicion. The call was fake. Here the interesting part is that he himself transferred the amount in the account number provided by them,” he said.
The police official said, “In some cases, the cheaters call people that they have won lotteries and to claim those lotteries they need to pay a certain amount of money. People fall prey to them and send money only to realise later that they have been cheated. One thing everybody must realise is that if the recipient has not ordered any parcel, then there is no question of accepting it. If I have not purchased a lottery ticket then where is the question of winning cash reward? These are the simple things which we need to do. When we are connected to the internet, we make ourselves connected to the world. You are exposed to the whole world. Cyber criminals are sitting there to target you. If we are not cautious we can harm ourselves. We can save ourselves only if we are cautious,” he said.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the State recorded a 300 per cent rise in cybercrime cases since 2020.
As per NCRB, from 2020 to 2022, a total of 166 cybercrime cases were reported in the State – 40 cases in 2020, 36 in 2021 and 90 in 2022. During the period, 90 persons were arrested while out of 166 cases, chargesheets were filed in 39 cases, the NCRB stated.
