Mysore/Mysuru: Concerned about the rising cyber crimes nationwide, Cyber, Economics and Narcotics Crime (CEN) Police have initiated a campaign aimed at increasing awareness among the people.

Recognising that educated women and elderly individuals are particularly vulnerable for online fraudsters, the City Police are actively engaging with these demographics to educate them about cyber crime risks.

On Friday evening, a team of Officers, led by a woman Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Police and three other women Police personnel, conducted an awareness session focusing on women at K.C. Layout park.

During the session, the Police cautioned participants against clicking on anonymous links and disregarding messages claiming they’ve won prizes. They also advised against responding to ‘work-from-home’ messages on the Telegram App or WhatsApp, especially those containing links.

Additionally, attendees were urged not to disclose their bank account or ATM card details to individuals who solicit such information via phone calls. The Police provided examples illustrating the potential dangers of online fraud to underscore the importance of vigilance.

By proactively engaging with the community and providing practical advice, the City Police aim to empower citizens with the knowledge needed to protect themselves against cyber threats.

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Mysore/Mysuru: In the latest case of online fraud reported in the city, a woman lost Rs. 42.80 lakh after she was promised higher returns on her investment.

Sangeetha, a resident of Chamarajapuram, is the one who lost her money. An online fraudster, who contacted Sangeetha through Telegram App, lured her into investing money for getting higher returns in a short time. Believing him, Sangeetha paid the fraudster a total of Rs. 42.80 lakh through online in instalments.

After coming to know that she was cheated, Sangeetha lodged a complaint with CEN Crime Police Station, who have booked a case and are investigating.

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Mysore/Mysuru: In separate cases, online fraudsters, who lured two women of providing them part time jobs with a good commissions, have cheated them of over Rs. 17 lakh.

In the first case, 24-year-old S. Bhavana of Janatanagar, received a job link on her WhatsApp from Mob: 73660-44961.

When she clicked the link, the page was directed to a Telegram App and after she logged in to the page, she was directed to view the videos, take a screen shot of the page and send the same via WhatsApp.

When Bhavana completed the task, the online fraudsters deposited Rs. 250 to her Bank account as commission. The fraudsters then lured her to invest more money to get high commission, following which she invested Rs. 1,000 and completed the given tasks for which the fraudsters deposited Rs. 1,300 as commission to her Bank account. Bhavana then invested a total of Rs. 5,65,105 in phases, only to be cheated.

In the second case, 41-year-old Deepthishree of Kuvempunagar, received a call from Mob: 96769-11028, where the caller told her to click the Telegram App link and review the contents for which she would be given high commission and got Rs. 11,74,906 transferred from her Bank account, thus cheating her.

Both the cases have been registered at city’s CEN Crime Police Station.

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Mysore/Mysuru: UPI or Unified Payments Interface has earned popularity for its user-friendliness interface. It is a single platform that brings many banking services and features under one universal roof.

However, with the increased number of transactions happening through UPI, there has been a significant rise in the cases of bank fraud. Dhiraj Kumar Chaubey, a businessman and a resident of Hebbal in the city, lost Rs. 14,400 on Nov. 15 as a UPI app was automatically installed on his phone while he was interacting with a fraudster, posing as a customer service executive of a telecom company.

Soon after the fraud, Dhiraj Kumar complained to the Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Crime Police Station over the phone and acting swiftly, the CEN Police were able to block the fraudster’s account and reverse the money (Rs. 14,400) deducted from Dhiraj Kumar’s bank account.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Dhiraj Kumar said that he wanted the latest internet fibre broadband connection to his home and office and was Googling it at 4 pm on Nov. 15. He saw an advertisement on Google and called the ‘customer care’ number displayed there. “A person speaking on the other end told me that the broadband connection is available in Hebbal, Mysuru and he would call me back from his officenumber,” he said.

The caller later told Dhiraj Kumar that he had to pay Rs. 5 through UPI as a registration fee and the latter agreed, without suspecting anything. “Meanwhile, BHIM app (probably a deceptive UPI handle used here to trick unsuspecting users) with MobiKwik as the payment receiver app was automatically installed on my mobile phone as I was speaking over the phone. Usually, a user grants privacy permission to apps to access data on any mobile phone. But in this case, the app automatically granted the privacy and transaction permissions and the fraudster withdrew Rs. 14,400 from my bank account,” he explained.

Soon after the fraudster ended the conversation, Dhiraj Kumar saw that there were 160 messages on his phone. “Most of the messages read: ‘Our registration for the BHIM app has started. If it is not you please report now to your bank. Do not share the card details/OTP to avoid any financial loss -NPCI’ and there were other messages that had granted transaction permission to MobiKwik,” he said.

Wasting no time, Dhiraj Kumar called his bank to debit-freeze his account due to the fraudulent transaction. He also called up the CEN Police Station and registered a complaint. “The complaint was registered within 15 to 20 minutes of the crime and the CEN Police also sent me the FIR copy which I handed over to my bank and the jurisdictional Hebbal Police Station. On Nov. 16, the Police managed to block the fraudster’s account to which money from my bank account was credited. Rs. 14,400 was reversed to my account before the conman could move my money to another account or withdraw it,” Dhiraj Kumar added.

Call these numbers

The general public may reach out to these numbers to report online frauds

• CEN Police Inspector      94808-02263
• CEN Police Station           0821-2418598
• Cyber Crime Helpline     1930

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Estimated money that is involved is Rs. 20 crore; MGP meeting throws light on menace

Mysore/Mysuru: Cyber crimes are increasing due to lack of coordination among departments. It is difficult to break into the invincible fort of cyber crimes. Cyber crimes can be prevented only if people do not share their personal details with strangers. These were the suggestions given during the interaction with Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Crime Police at the monthly meeting of Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) held at its premises in Yadavagiri here yesterday.

Following an increase in cyber crimes, MGP had organised the meeting to discuss ways to prevent cyber crimes, during which CEN Sub-Inspector Anil Kumar shared some important information.

Replying to a question put forth by an MGP Member, Anil Kumar said that there are more than 3,500 cyber crime cases registered in the city annually, which are difficult to crack. The estimated money that is involved in 3,500 cases touch  Rs. 20 crore. “Complaints pertaining to economic crimes are being registered at CEN Police Stations in the city and other districts. These cases are difficult to crack and the CEN Police are working hard to catch the accused,” the SI added.

He further said that in most cases, people from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, and northern States are involved. “The kingpins of these crimes stay in huge apartments and other places leading a posh life. It is difficult to nab the accused from these places,” he added.

“If a cyber crime is registered at the city’s CEN Police Station, the link to the case will be in North India. When our Police visit that State, they should seek help from the jurisdictional Police to trace and nab the accused,” Anil Kumar said besides providing information about non-clarity of law and legal issues in  solving these crimes.

The SI further said that there are 20 staff in the city’s CEN Police Station and added “Despite we work in city limits, only about 5 to 6 percent of cases  are being solved.”

People of all ages are targeted

Online fraudsters target people of all ages and professions by calling over the phone and introducing themselves by talking politely, Anil Kumar said, citing an example of victim Sathyaprakash, who had transferred Rs. 2 lakh to an online fraudster who had posed as an Army man. The SI also gave another example of another victim, who lost more than Rs. 50,000 after believing a message on Facebook.

Pointing out that many such cases come to light daily, he said that it has become a headache for the Police in solving such cases. In most cyber and economic crimes, people believe strangers and make online payments. It is only after a few days they realise that they have been duped. Anil Kumar added that lack of proper documents hampers their investigation. “When we write to a Bank and seek information about a particular case, we do not get correct information, which also delays the investigation.”

Need to create awareness

To prevent cyber crimes, the CEN Police across the State, as part of the investigation, through media or by holding conferences create awareness. Importantly, people should come forward to control cyber crimes by not providing their Bank account details to strangers and should give only their bank account numbers for financial transactions to people known to them. They should not give any other details such as their Debit Card number, One Time Password (OTP), etc., to anyone. Most of the fraud calls come from abroad,  Anil Kumar said.

Call Helpline number 1930

In case people come to know that they have been duped online, they should immediately call Helpline Number 1930 and lodge a complaint or visit the nearest Police Station and get an FIR registered, the SI suggested.

State Bank of India (SBI) retired Assistant General Manager (AGM) D.T. Venkatesh, CEN Police Station staff Shivakumar, MGP’s Dr. Bhamy V. Shenoy, Prof. S. Shobhana, Venkatesh Kharidi, K. Sathyaprakash, V.S. Sathyaram, D.V. Dayanand Sagar, Vishwanath, Lakshman Kumar, Arun Kumar, H.L. Nagaraj, H.K. Praveenkumar, V. Vidyashankar, M.S. Rakesh, C.M.N. Purushotham, Nataraj, S.N. Shekar, B.S. Somashekar, M. Arjun, Prof. Jagannath, Shivananda Adiga, K. Banu Prashanth, G. Sridhar, B. Shivakumar, Anil Kumar, Mahantesh and others were present.

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Mysore/Mysuru: In separate cases, a student is among two persons who have been cheated of Rs. 13,47,000 by online fraudsters.

In the first case, 23-year-old S. Akash, a resident of Omkar Layout in J.P. Nagar, received a call from Mob: 85968-13328, where the caller informed him that he was calling on behalf of Shine Company and will get him a job in the company.

The caller later got Rs. 1.09 lakh transferred from Akash as registration and laptop fee and has cheated him.

In the second case, online fraudsters, who contacted 44-year-old Spoorthiraj Vivek, a resident of J.P. Nagar, gave her tasks to be completed in Telegram App with a promise of high commission, got Rs. 12,38,000 transferred from her and have cheated her.

Both the cases have been registered at city’s Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Crime Police Station.

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Mysore/Mysuru: City Police returned 135 stolen cell phones worth Rs. 30 lakh that were traced through Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal to their owners here last evening.

City’s Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Crime Police, who assessed the information through CEIR portal and Chatbot (WhatsApp message), succeeded in tracing these cellphones, that were handed over to the owners by City Police Commissioner B. Ramesh at his Office in Nazarbad yesterday.

City Police Chief Ramesh told media persons: “A total of 3,075 complaints related to losing or  theft of cell phones have been registered on CEIR portal since September 2022. So far, 270 cell phones have been recovered including 135 devices being returned to their owners. Two months back, awareness was created among the public on how to use CEIR portal and the link we receive upon sending ‘Hi’ message to a dedicated number-6363255135 on WhatsApp. Based on the complaints registered in this method, the mobile phones are being traced.”

Of the 135 cell phones recovered now, about 30 were traced in other States like Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. However, it cannot be precisely said that they were stolen and sold outside the State, as the chances of losing them during travelling also cannot be ignored.

All the Police Stations have been instructed to upload the complaints related to losing of cell phones on CEIR portal. Earlier, such stolen phones were being traced on the basis of their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. If the devices were turned on, the process of tracing them were carried out. As the number of cases increased, it was not possible to initiate action in effective manner. However, the CEIR portal has come in handy in solving such cases as the message will be received at respective Police stations soon after the device is turned on, Police Commissioner Ramesh added.

The mobile phone lifters won’t use the device. They sell them to strangers and gullible people whom they lure for a song. Several such people buy the second hand phones offered at a lesser price. If somebody stumble upon such phones, they won’t return it to its owners. As the message is received the moment the device is turned on, Police contact and enquire them. When the Police explain them the fact that the device is a stolen one which is being used and seek their cooperation in returning it to its owner, most of them send the device through parcel. If some of them are unable to parcel the device, Police will personally collect the device from them.

If a gang is involved in mobile theft and hand it over to another, who sell them to those in their network after changing IMEI number, such racketeers can be traced. However in the complaints lodged on CEIR portal, most of them are related to losing the devices. Even the buyers won’t have information of the seller. Hence, our main intention is to trace such devices and return to the owners, said the City Top Cop.

DCP (Law and Order) M. Muthuraj, DCP (Crime and Traffic) S. Jahnavi and Devaraja Sub-Division ACP Shanthamallappa guided CEN Inspector N. Jayakumar, Sub-Inspectors N. Anil Kumar and M. L. Siddesh, ASI Subhash Chandra and staff in the tracing and recovery operation.

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Mysore/Mysuru: The Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Crime Police in Mysuru have booked a case against two of a travel agency in Bengaluru for cheating a client of Rs. 2.3 lakh without booking the flight tickets.

Owner of Rising Tour and Travels India, Sai Nagar, Bengaluru, Renuka Devi Rajan and Shivaraju are the accused against whom the case has been registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by M.A. Shivaprakash of Dattagalli 3rd Stage, Mysuru.

The accused contacted Shivaprakash on the latter’s cell phone and got the amount of Rs. 2,30,110 transferred to through Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), to book ticket for him and his family members, but cheated without booking the tickets, according to the complaint.

Cyber, Economic and Narcotics Crime Police, who have registered a case, have continued with the investigation.

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Mysore/Mysuru: In separate cases, two women have been cheated of lakhs of rupees by miscreants on the pretext of providing them part-time jobs.

In the first case, 29-year-old Vijayalakshmi Nagappa Sirasagi, a resident of Brindavan Layout, received a WhatsApp message pertaining to part-time job, which stated that Rs. 150 will be given for every Mojo video if the person press the ‘like’ button and a person should invest money to like the video.

When Vijayalakshmi contacted the number from which she had received the message, the caller got Rs. 52 lakh transferred from her, thus cheating her.

In the second case, 48-year-old P. Kushunda, a resident of Bannimantap ‘C’ Layout, who was promised good commission for liking, sharing and reviewing a YouTube channel on Telegram App by fraudsters, also got cheated when Rs. 2.93 lakh was transferred from her Bank account.

City’s CEN Crime Police, who have registered separate cases, are investigating.

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CEN Cops book cases; Septuagenarian man, engineer and youth among victims

Mysore/Mysuru: In three separate cases, fraudsters have cheated several lakhs of rupees to gullible people, by allegedly luring them with attractive offers online. The cases have been registered at Cyber, Economics and Narcotics (CEN) Crime Police Station in the city.

K. Chandrashekar, 77 years and a resident of Vidyaranyapuram in the city, was cheated of Rs. 4.26 lakh under the pretext of updating Know Your Customer (KYC) details of his bank account. Chandrashekar received a message regarding the process of updating his KYC on his cell number. When he contacted the sender on that cell number, they collected his ATM card details and transferred Rs. 4,26,112 to their bank account. CEN Police have registered a case.

YouTube subscription

In another case, K.T. Rani, an engineer and a resident of Hebbal 2nd Stage in the city, has been cheated of Rs. 3.22 lakh.

Rani received a message on her WhatsApp about subscription of a YouTube channel. When she contacted the sender, she was told about a task to be completed promising returns on investment.

Rani believed in the offer and transferred Rs. 3.22 lakh. When she asked for her share of profit, she was asked to invest more denying her claim for profit otherwise. It was at that time, Rani realised that she has been cheated and approached CEN Police.

Job offer

A 30-year-old man has been cheated of Rs. 81,300 under the pretext of arranging a job in an e-Commerce firm. N. Chandan, a resident of V.V. Mohalla in the city, is the victim, who was taken for a ride after clicking on an Instagram link. After clicking the link, Chandan received a message on his cell phone from a number (90090-42761), about Amazon e-Commerce job. Later, he received further messages on Amazon sales on Telegram App.

The fraudsters got Rs. 200 transferred to their account from Chandan and gave him a task. After successfully completing the task, they transferred Rs. 450 to Chandan’s account. Chandan, who unknowingly walked into the trap, gradually transferred Rs. 81,300 to the fraudsters. They demanded 30 percent commission from Chandan to withdraw the amount. Suspecting something fishy, Chandan lodged a complaint at CEN Police Station.

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