There’s always a beginning that leads into the unknown. In 2010, when a 17-year-old Intermediate student killed himself leaving behind a note - blaming an online dating site - it was both a surprise and a challenge to the City Police.
It was a surprise, because for the men in khaki it was a first, a case relating to cyber crime. It was a challenge, as they had to investigate and search for the criminal whose face and identity were fake and location not known, leaving them clueless, almost.
Crime location unknown
It took about three months for the then Cyber Crime Cell inspector C.M. Naidu to locate and nab the perpetrator, sitting somewhere in New Delhi.
The case was an eye-opener and since then cyber crime has been on the rise both in the city and in the State. The small cyber cell that was initiated in 2009-10, is today a full-fledged police station with an attached Cyber Forensic Lab. But there has been no end to the menace.
Honey trap, sans honey
A decade ago it began with a dating site racket, and the recent major case detected by the Cyber Police too was related to a dating site. Based on a complaint, Cyber Police Station officers arrested a 26-member gang, including 23 women from Kolkata, who had conned an MNC employee to over ₹18 lakh. Promising services of high-profile escorts (call girls), the gang made him pay the amount over three months.
Be it dating sites or fake lottery sites or OTP related cases, the question here is how people fall into paying such huge sums or giving away their OTP or PIN without confirming the authenticity of the sites or messages.
- Cyber crime in Visakhapatham
- 2015 – 359
- 2016 – 442
- 2017 – 581
- 2018 – 201
- 2019* – 300
- *till the date
- All India cyber crime in 2017 – 21,796 (NCRB)
- Dos and dont’s
- Do not respond to callers who pose as bank or government officials
- Do not disclose confidential information such as date of birth, OTP, UPI or PIN numbers
- Check the domain address of website (www.sbi.com or www.sbi.on can written as www.sba.in)
- Sudden online lottery mails are frauds – should be ignored
- Check whether ATM machines are connected with additional wires
Reality lost in greed and lucre
Former Superintendent of Government Hospital for Mental Care N.N. Raju, said: "Cyber criminals play with people’s minds." Suffice to say, cyber criminals are taking advantage of human weakness that is ‘greed and desire to get better things’.
Also read: Cyber crimes: Women are soft targets
According to Prof. Raju, with provocative pictures, messages and even sweet talking, the criminals tend to mesmerise or hypnotise the victims. "They get into the mind of the victim, and the victim starts following the instructions. Once they have identified the ‘suggestible personality’ or ‘prospective victim’, which could vary from two to five out of every thousand that they tap, they get into their mind. It so happens that the victim loses touch with reality, which could even be for a fraction of a minute. But that is enough to con the victim," said Prof. Raju.
Concurring with Prof. Raju, Commissioner of Police R.K. Meena also feels that human greed and desire are the two main ingredients that are expanding cyber crime.
On the rise
Cyber Crime has been on the rise by over 50 per cent per year. In 2010, number of crimes recorded in Visakhapatnam city was 36 and it has crossed the 500 mark by 2017. This year, as on August, the number has already touched the 300 mark.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), cyber crimes recorded in AP in 2015 were 533, in 616 in 2016,and 931 in 2017. According to NCRB 2017 statistics, AP stands seventh in the country, and UP leading with 4,971 cases.
Port City in pole position
Within the State, Visakhapatam accounts for over 50 per cent of the total cases recorded. Out of a total 536 cases recorded in 2015, Visakhapatnam’s share was 359. In 2016 out of 616, its share was 442, and 581 out of 931 in 2017. According to Mr. V. Gopinath, Inspector of Cyber Crime Police Station, the cosmopolitan culture of the city has been contributing largely to the increase.
The types of frauds range from email hacking to OPT fraud (Phishing and Vishing), to ATM theft, ATM skimming and spoofing, Nigerian 419 lottery frauds, job frauds, fake dating sites, and fake websites.
While fraudulent transactions lead the way with over 60 per cent share, the other leading crimes include sexual harrasment, extortion, revenge motive, job frauds, ATM hacking and lottery frauds.
Needle in a haystack
Investigating cyber crime has always been searching for ‘needle in a haystack’. While staffing is one problem, connecting the various inter-state enforcement agencies is another issue. While the sanctioned strength for Cyber Crime Police Station in Visakhapatnam is 55, boots on the ground are just 20.
Moreover, since cyber crime has no boundaries or jurisdiction, it calls for inter-agency cooperation, which is lacking, and hampering investigation.
