Unrelenting on-line fraudsters proceed to plan new techniques by the day to lure unwary victims as evidenced by a whopping 2,196 cyber fraud circumstances in Chandigarh in simply the primary 4 months of 2023.

The tally to date this 12 months interprets to 549 cyber crime FIRs each month. Even final 12 months, as many as 7,313 Chandigarh residents had fallen prey to on-line fraudsters — over 600 every month.

Cyber ​​crime investigators have discovered that fraudsters principally make use of seven rip-off techniques, together with sextortion/harassment, on-line dishonest by way of social media platforms, debit/bank card frauds, OLX rip-off, dishonest by way of faux buyer care quantity, sending faux SMS alerts for unpaid electrical energy payments and Hookwinking victims by calling them about their kin in bother.

At 429, the cybercrime police obtained the utmost complaints for sextortion, whereby fraudsters make video calls to victims from nameless numbers. As the sufferer solutions the video name, with clips of a nude girl on the opposite facet, the fraudsters take screenshots to ultimately blackmail the sufferer to extort cash.

Then, 271 complaints had been obtained concerning dishonest on the pretext of promoting and buying merchandise by way of social media websites. Here, the victims had been additionally duped by way of enticing job and prompt mortgage provides.

The third commonest fraud in Chandigarh is withdrawal of cash by way of debit or bank cards. Here the unsuspecting victims find yourself dropping cash after clicking on faux hyperlinks with out checking their authenticity or sharing OTPs, giving entry to fraudsters.

As many as 80 residents within the metropolis had been additionally duped by way of the OLX app fraud. According to the cyber police, the fraudsters add footage of furnishings, autos, and many others., on the net market place, together with their telephone numbers. When the shopper contacts them, they pose as military officers and narrate faux tales of being transferred to a different place due to which they’re promoting the products.

They additional inform the victims to switch the quantity on-line, citing that they’ll transport the objects to be offered utilizing military transport. But the victims do not obtain something and solely find yourself dropping their hard-earned cash.

Fraudsters have additionally gone to the size of making faux buyer care hyperlinks for numerous web sites/purposes. As the victims click on on these hyperlinks, they’re requested to share the OTP or are duped by way of display screen sharing. A complete of 75 individuals misplaced cash by way of this modus operandi.

canada calling

Another cyber crime turning into fairly prevalent within the metropolis is victims getting calls from fraudsters impersonating as legal professionals or buddies of their kin residing overseas. “The caller tells the sufferer that they’re calling from Canada, UK, USA or Australia and mentions names of a relative of the sufferer residing in the identical nation. Raising false alarms about their relative being in authorized or medical bother, the callers ask the victims to instantly switch cash into the financial institution accounts to save lots of them. They skillfully weave panic, inflicting the victims to switch the cash with out considering twice, solely to comprehend they’ve been duped,” a senior cyber police officer said.

Despite the UT administration cautioning the public against fraudulent phone calls and SMS regarding pending electricity dues, 21 people also ended up falling prey to the fraud.

Alarming the victim with a fake alert that their power connection will be disconnected if the dues are not cleared soon, the scammers withdraw money from their bank account after sharing fraudulent links.

176 fraudsters

Since the establishment of the Cyber ​​Crime police station in June last year, a total of 176 swindlers have been arrested by the cyber crime team, led by SP Ketan Bansal and station house officer Ranjit Singh, till April this year.

Mainly, police nabbed 44 people who were involved in instant loan app fraud or fake app frauds, including KBC lottery application.

Police said of the total 176 accused, most belonged to Jamtara in Jharkhand, West Champaran in Bihar, Kolkata in West Bengal, Bharatpur in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

67 lakh salvaged

Through swift action, cyber crime police managed to salvage 67,27,321 this year by timely preventing fraudulent transactions with the help of banks concerned.

Moreover, the police also recovered 25 lakh in money, together with laptops, cellphones, SIM playing cards, vehicles and vehicles from the accused arrested until April this 12 months.

Offering a phrase of warning to residents, superintendent of police Ketan Bansal mentioned, “One ought to be alert whereas responding to calls and messages from unknown contacts. Don’t get lured by profitable provides or get threatened by synthetic urgency created by fraudsters. One ought to instantly name 1930 in case of cyber monetary fraud.