While Hyderabadis are busy getting digitally inked, the darker side of it, too, is lurking closely with the city being ranked second in cyber crime cases (354 cases) next to Bengaluru in a nationwide crime report. According to the latest statistics published in Crime in India 2015, the number of cases reported has decreased from 703 in 2014 to 687 in 2015 in Telangana as a whole.
According to the same report, most of the offenders are aged between 18-30 years. So does that mean the city is very low in cyber crime? “There has been a three-time rise on the cases reported, mainly whishing and hacking. Most of the accused are below 35 years. They operate through hacking,” says Md.
Riyazuddin, Inspector, Cyber Crime, Cyberabad. With more youngsters involved, the motives behind the crime range from financial gain to causing disrepute and other types of fraud like tampering documents.
U. Ramamohan, SP Cyber Crimes, CID, Hyderabad adds, “Cyber crime like card cloning, OTP (one time password) fraud, phishing, spoofing are the cases registered with us. It can happen to anyone, be it a celebrity or a common man.”
Then where do these cases go if not registered? “All the cases cannot be turned into FIRs due to lack of jurisdiction. There are many offenses committed by foreign nationals outside the territorial jurisdiction of the country. Bank statement may show that the transaction happened somewhere without the victim’s knowledge. Every complaint is well attended but what can we do for solving it is very minimal due to foreign policies,” adds S.Jayaram, ACP, Cyber Crime, Cyberabad.
The most important thing related to cyber crime is to be self-aware and not fall into the trap. “Unless people come to forefront, we can’t do anything. One has to be bold enough to report the matter. We keep all the details confidential. Identities of both the victim and the accused should be kept confidential according to court directions. We are there to help, but they should take the initiative to report without getting embarrassed,” he adds.
Cases related to women welfare and youth are dealt with utmost priority at the city cyber cell. But the team is undermanned to deal every single complaint. “The sad part is that even if we want to deal with every case on priority, we can’t due to lack of manpower. A single cyber crime may revolve around four States in India and it is practically impossible to send people to every nook and corner to solve it. Every day we get at least 2-3 cases of cyber fraud are registered,” says Jayaram.
