Goa seeing fewer cyber frauds: Police

Panaji, Dec 11 (PTI) The Goa police on Wednesday claimed that the number of online frauds is coming down in the coastal state, attributing it to their swift action and awareness campaigns.

Cases of such cyber crimes between June and October have declined by about 33 per cent compared to the January-May period, said Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) Rahul Gupta in a statement.

“During the same period, the number of transactions put on hold by the cyber cell increased by 242 per cent,” he said.

Gupta said they have launched the ‘Cyber Surakshit Goem’ (Cyber Safe Goa) campaign to raise awareness, collaborating with panchayats, schools, colleges, and industries.

He said special teams have been formed to follow up on transactions with financial intermediaries to put fund transfers by scammers on hold.

The cyber cell has apprehended 45 individuals from across the country as part of its probes into cases registered between June and October, the official said.

Eight bank managers have also been questioned in connection with mule accounts, used by criminals to launder money, he said.

“New methods of cyber fraud are emerging. One such modus operandi is task-based frauds where victims are added to WhatsApp or Telegram groups and asked to perform tasks in exchange for money. However, when it comes to withdrawing the money, they are asked to pay processing fees, resulting in fraud,” he said.

He said that another growing concern is WhatsApp hacking, which can occur when one shares OTPs with fraudsters or clicks malicious links that give control of their phones to scammers.

“Once a victim’s WhatsApp account is hacked, fraudsters contact friends and family, requesting urgent financial help,” he said. PTI RPS NR