Vijayawada: The Cyber Crime Wing of Vijayawada, which is running with one sub-inspector and six constables, will be reinforced with a new building and more than 40 staff. With cyber crime increasing in Vijayawada, dealing with this issue has become difficult for the cyber wing. In 2014, the number of cyber crimes was below 10, but after demonetisation this number has crossed 100.
The post-demonetisation situation has given opportunities to cyber criminals to loot money from gullible people. The increase in the operations of bank accounts and online transactions have made it easier for criminals.The OTP (One Time Pasword) option, is the main weapon for criminals now. They are using the Aadhaar link or new credit card or government schemes even, pensions too.
They call the consumer, giving him all the details to win his confidence and then ask for his OTP. When that happens, he can then grab this amount from the consumer’s account. The shocking thing is that a gang has been operating from different locations at the borders of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar. They get sim cards on false names and then make calls from the border area of Jamtara in Jharkhand. An accomplice takes the OTP and transfers the amount from the consumer’s account to valet and valet to some bank account.The third person withdraws the amount immediately. The police cannot trace the culprits, as they are operating with false details.
The Commissionarate of Vijayawada has started focusing on cyber crimes for the last three years, especially during the rule of Mr Gowtham Sawang. He allotted separate staff and arranged special training for them at the ESF lab, the CID in Hyderabad and training at Bhopal. Only after this training, were they able to stop cyber crime. Out of Rs 81 lakh in dubious transactions, they were able to stop Rs 33 lakh, by contacting the right persons in banks, valets etc.
