CHENNAI: A day after the Union Home Ministry announced the operationalisation of a 24x7 national helpline (155260) and a platform to help victims to report financial cyber frauds so that police and banks can act on them in real time respectively, it seems that Tamil Nadu may have to wait for a while to catch up with the development.
As of now, the helpline along with the platform (Citizen Financial Cyber Frauds Reporting and Management System) is available together only in seven states and Union Territories (Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh).
However, Tamil Nadu residents can still report financial cyber frauds through the portal www.cybercrime.gov.in and by visiting police stations directly.
Though a statement from the ministry issued on Thursday said that the rollout in the other states is underway, an official in the state, privy to the development, sought anonymity and told The New Indian Express that Tamil Nadu is likely to take more time to join the league.
"MHA is taking efforts on this. The initiative also needs coordination between various departments and it would certainly need time. However, there are other factors besides this," the official said.
A senior official from the state cyber crime cell was unavailable for comment.
If implemented, the technology would hugely benefit Tamil Nadu residents, as, according to the former Chennai Police Commissioner, 80 per cent of cases in cybercrime division had been related to financial frauds.
Besides, Union Finance Ministry data reportedly stated that Tamil Nadu ranked first in the amount of money involved in frauds pertaining to debit and credit cards and internet banking.
The helpline 155260 and the platform has been made operational by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Union Home Ministry, with active support and cooperation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), all major banks, payment banks, wallets and online merchants.
Just in two months, since its soft launch on April 1, the helpline helped save more than Rs 1.85 crore of defrauded money from reaching the hands of fraudsters, the ministry statement said.
How the platform and helpline work in real time
1. Victim calls helpline 155260 - operated by the concerned state police
2. Police operator notes down details and raises a ticket on the management platform
3. The ticket (a request) reaches banks, wallets, and merchants concerned, depending on where the money is
4. Victim is alerted with an acknowledgement number and instructed to submit complete details of the fraud on https://cybercrime.gov.in/ within 24 hours
5. Meanwhile, banks see the ticket and put the transaction on hold. If the money is moved, the ticket is sent to the next bank to which the money was sent. The process is repeated until the money is saved from reaching fraudsters.