HYDERABAD: As the world becomes increasingly reliant on online transactions, fraudsters on the other side of the screen are waiting to lure customers with fake investment schemes, fake KYC checks and much more. Besides, the lockdown pushed the elderly to use mobile phones more often and many a time, they fell prey to cyber frauds.
Additional CP, Crimes, Shikha Goel, on Wednesday said, “Cybercrimes increased by 55 per cent in 2020-21. UPI and OTP frauds constituted 45 and 15 per cent respectively. Scanning a QR Code is required only to make a payment, not to receive the amount. Banks or other financial institutions never ask for OTPs,” Goel sought to remind gullible citizens.
The IPS officer also spoke about the menace of fake customer care centres. “Many people are falling prey to fake callers who pretend to be from banks, credit card companies and the like. Once they acquire OTPs, the callers siphon off the hard-earned money of people. The Addl CP said it had been noticed that elderly citizens who do not have proper knowledge about apps and websites are sitting ducks for such crimes.
“So if you are giving an elderly person a smartphone, do guide him/her on how to use it without falling into the trap of a cybercriminal,” Shikha Goel said. Twenty-two persons including one Chinese official were arrested in betting and loan app scams. An amount of Rs 80 crore in 1206 bank accounts was frozen.
The number of cybercrime cases in 2019 was 1,379. They doubled from 2,553 in 2020 to 5,646 cases in 2021. Only 256 offenders have been taken into custody and 13 foreign nationals too for their involvement in gift and matrimony scams. The victims registered 278 complaints on Facebook, 238 on WhatsApp and 185 cases through Twitter.