BHUBANESWAR: The emotional and financial aftereffects of cyber fraud on victims can be overwhelming. Cuttack-based IT professional Swati Das has been on a mission to help such victims come out of the trauma for the last three years, by equipping them with coping mechanisms.
She has been volunteering for Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police for counselling people falling prey to cyber crimes in Bhubaneswar. “Such crimes can lead to anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” said the 32-year-old IT professional.
Working from home since 2023, Swati has been associated with various cybercrime awareness programmes organised by the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police. “Cyber crimes disrupt people’s psychological and emotional well-being. In many instances, victims develop loss of trust, PTSD, frustration and even suicidal tendencies. Lack of social support in such situations aggravates victims’ distress and to counter this, healthy coping strategies should be provided to them,” said Swati.
She has conducted cyber awareness and mental wellness workshops in various schools, colleges and private/government organisations and advised more than 1,000 participants including students on coping mechanisms that can be used to deal with the trauma of facing a digital attack.
Swati is the only woman volunteer for Commissionerate Police’s cyber crime awareness programmes that the latter has been organising regularly since the last three years. She has been trained in mental health counselling by the IT firm she is employed with under its ‘Supporting Mental Health’ initiative.
Since 2023, Swati has visited more than 50 educational institutions in Bhubaneswar to create awareness among youths on cyber crimes and provide psychological counselling to the ones who have been victims of such frauds. She has also been counselling victims of online crimes at the Cyber Crime and Economic Offence police station in the Capital City. “During counselling sessions, I noticed that many victims are extremely traumatised due to the huge financial loss they faced at the hands of cyber fraudsters. Some even lost their life-long savings to scammers,” she said.
Swati added that during counselling sessions, victims are also reluctant to share their ordeal after going through honey-trapping or deepfakes. To assist such victims, it is pivotal to first make them comfortable, express empathy, and apprise them that theirs is not an isolated incident. “The negative consequences of cyber crimes on mental health can be reduced to a great extent by using effective coping mechanisms like reaching out for social support, taking part in stress-relieving activities and availing mental health services,” she added.
Addiction to social media, she said, has led to mental and physical health issues, particularly after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. “Users addicted to social media are experiencing psychological consequences like stress as they also come across disturbing content. This may have a significant negative influence on people’s relationships, sense of security, and general well-being,” she said. A safe digital environment and awareness among people on side effects of over-consumption of social media is the need of the hour, she suggested.