Ask questions. Don't panic. And, consult your family or friends before taking the next step. These are the key tips from crime investigators in the wake of two separate cyber heists in Pune over the last 10 days in which two women lost close to Rs one crore after fraudsters manimulated them using an IPS officer's name. In the latest case being probed by the Pune Cyber Crime Police station, a 31-year-old woman lost Rs 92 lakh to criminals who posed as courier company staffers, and “Mumbai cyber crime department” officers, and claimed that a “parcel containing drugs had been sent in her name to Taiwan”. The suspects used the name of an IPS officer from Maharashtra to dupe the woman whose husband had passed away recently. The same name was used in a case registered in Pimpri Chinchwad late last month in which a woman software engineer was duped of Rs 6 lakh after she was told that her accounts were being used for “international terror funding”. Asked about these two incidents, Senior Inspector Minal Patil, in-charge of the cyber crime police station in Pune, told The Indian Express, "There are some key lessons for citizens to take from these two examples where pretexts such as international terror funding or drug trafficking were used by Cyber crooks. The first being, our perspective towards such calls. We can see in both cases the victims blindly believed in what the fraudsters told them. It is very important that our attitude should be one of questioning things rather than blindly believing in them. The criminals take advantage of the vulnerabilities and fears of citizens." Patil said, "Second, the citizens should check if the claims made by callers even make sense. One victim had never sent any parcel, the other one had no unusual activity on the bank account. Yet they fell prey to manipulation of drug parcels being sent in her name or account being used for terror funding. The victim was asked to call the Cyber crime cell when the claim was of a drugs seizure. This alone should have raised doubts." Patil said, "We also believe that consulting other members of the family or friends is very helpful when one receives such calls. It can help victims in understanding these frauds and they can also get the required emotional support. Such calls can cause a great deal of stress to victims. If, unfortunately, a victim ends up transfering money to fraudsters, it is important that they approach the police - particularly the Cyber crime branch of their respective jurisdiction immediately. In addition all the basic Cyber safety norms apply in these cases too." Senior Inspector Patil said citizens in Pune can approach Cyber Crime Cell at numbers 020-29710097, 7058719371 or 7058719375 and alternatively can contact the state level Cyber crime helplines of respective states or the national cyber crime helpline or portal. "Approaching the police within 24 hours - often referred to as Golden Hour for Cyber crime - can help authorities to initiate communication with banks to freeze fraudulent accounts." she added. A cyber crime investigator from Pimpri Chinchwad police, "Cyber criminals exploit the lack of knowledge of basic Cyber safety norms among the citizens. In some other cases they exploit the greed of people to earn quick money or target the vulnerabilities of specific age groups such as the curiosity among the younger population, fears of losing money among the young and middle aged earning population and lack of Cyber awareness in the elderly. Cyber Crime awareness should be part of our basic learnings in schools and colleges. Cyber crime cells in Maharashtra do undertake awareness campaigns on a regular basis." CYBER SAFETY PRIMER Do not click on unknown links Do not download attachments from unknown links Keep a strong anti-virus on your system and take back-up of important files Do not install applications from unknown sources Do not give out sensitive personal information on unsecured web pages and platforms, or to unauthorised callers Report suspicious calls to police immediately
