THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From Saturday onwards, the Milma milk sachets will be delivering not just “goodness” as its famed tagline says, but a word of caution too. Worried by the surge in cyber crimes, The Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, known by its trade name Milma, has decided to run cyber safety awareness message on milk packets.
The endeavour is a result of police’s effort to amplify its cyber awareness drive by using the massive reach and market penetration of the brand.
Sources in the cyber police division told TNIE that the objective is to make the topic a matter of discussion among Milma consumers. The brand has got a strong reach in the state with about 33 lakh packets being sold daily. “The brand has got a loyal and formidable customer base.
While seeing the sachets, the text would catch their attention and by getting exposed to the content regularly, the public will develop a serious attitude towards the highlighted issue,” it said.
The sources said the awareness drive via Milma milk sachets will run for three months, and one positive aspect of this exercise is that people in rural parts and in households would be able to gauge the seriousness of cyber crimes.
“Already there are lots of awareness drives happening via various platforms. But the drive intended via Milma has got a clear advantage. Women, children and elderly people will be exposed to our message as they will be handling the milk packets multiple times daily.
The more they come across the message, they will understand the need for keeping up guard while handling cyberspace,” the sources added.
Only one type of awareness content will be printed on the sachets and the exercise will be limited to just milk packets as they have got the maximum reach.
The collective loot from Kerala by cyber criminals over the past three years was more than Rs 10 billion. Fraudsters swindled Rs 1,021 crore between 2022 and 2024, of which Rs 763 crore was siphoned off last year. While Keralites lost Rs 48 crore to cyber fraud in 2022, the amount rose to Rs 210 crore in 2023, the official data revealed. A total of 41,426 complaints were registered in 2024, which roughly implies that as many people lost money to various cyber fraud activities.