Study Circle Talk on Cybercrime by Young ADCP UP Police Shakti Awasthy

On 8th June evening Study Circle organised a presentation on the most troublesome aspect of life today – Cybercrime. It was delivered by a young ADCP of UP Police, Shakti Awasthy, who
held the 100-strong audience spellbound with his simple yet effective precautions:

1. Fraud Scareware: Beware of baits like ‘Your subscription for any popular show (e.g.Netflix) is automatically being renewed’. Nothing comes for free, and, such invites are mostly from rogues. Always check from the genuine show/app.
2. Avidity: He explained this term to be offering an item in demand at a low price. The cybercrooks prey on insufficient technical knowledge of seniors and trap them. Never fall for such offers.
3. Check validity of suspect Apps over YouTube.
4. Cogent: He explained this phenomenon as the sudden offers that come from unknown sources for Live issues such as Vrat ki Thali, IPL tickets, Covid testing/inoculation etc. Due to the issue being live, we tend to trust such offers more. Whole villages like Jamtara in Bihar and Bharatpur region have extended families working only on such fraud.
5. Complimentary offers: Beware of such deals, however inviting they may be.
6. Online shopping: If you are shopping online from a non-standard platform, generally it is safer to opt for Cash on Delivery COD option.
7. Always check websites for genuineness. There are many scamsters who offer Helicopter ride service to Vaishno Devi, etc., or, booking at Tirupati Tirumala etc., Gir Forest visit etc. Always research for the genuineness of a website. Government websites such as Tourism depts will always have either a ‘gov’ or ‘in’. If they are using ‘org’ etc., it merits a check.
8. OTP Fraud: All are aware of scamsters gaining trust by fraudulent means and asking to share OTP. Now, scamsters have advanced to the extent that OTP is passe’! Today, on a call with you while guiding you in any online cash transaction for your purchase, scamsters say that their senior manager would also like to speak with you, and, that’s when the call comes through to please patch him in too. Once you do that, your OTP which you think is only being conveyed to you, instantly reaches the patched-in crook, and, he can clean your account out in seconds.
9. Bluetooth: As a precaution when not required, keep Bluetooth on your smartphone on Off mode. There is a scam ware called Blue Bugger which can take your data. Similar caution to be exercised for Wifi. As, when you are out of your house your data card is in use. You can put wifi on to use in a safe house.
   Video calls: As a general rule he said do not pick up unknown nos. Load Truecaller on your phone, wait 10 seconds before responding, you will get to know identity in most cases. Especially do not entertain unknown video calls.
10. ATM’s: Awasthy’s advise was to minimise use of ATMs at isolated locations. If you have to use one, go to one which has a guard, or is attached to a bank.
11. Fake Customs Official: Scamsters usually good-looking ones with assumed foreign names, target persons of the opposite sex with sweet talk and say they wish to come to India to meet you. If you agree, one day you may get a call from the ‘friend’ saying he is stuck in this airport as the gift parcel he was carrying to present you has been impounded by the Customs and they are demanding duty in lakhs, and to please remit the amount to this link. Gullible people get trapped, even a nationally known English TV reporter, he said. Usually these are people from Nigeria, Ghana, & other West African countries, some Carribbean islands, even from places like Krygistan and surrounding parts. Awasthy ji said these foreigners usually live in flats in Greater Noida type of areas as it is remote and cheap, so requested if any of us get information of such suspicious activity to please report it to them.
    The ‘Customs’ officials he has come across are ones in which usually scamsters use ladies from Bhutan, Sikkim etc. who always talk in Hindi.
12. Fake Army/CAPF officers selling on OLX: Scamsters pose as army officers posted to the Front and have to sell their furniture, fridge etc. cheaply, to send advance to this account and balance on delivery. Always try to go and verify the articles before agreeing to buy.
13. Juice Jacking: Officer Awasthy explained this term to be scamsters stealing data from phones being charged through jacks at suspicious public locations. At such places only use your own adaptor but don’t remove its lead and attach to their USB for charging. In planes usually it is safe.
14. Also check if some fraudster is running a company using data he has pilfered from you in the public domain, such as PAN cards. He has come across cases where fictitious companies run thriving businesses, and later the GST and duty liability comes to you as your PAN no is being misused.
15. Beware of offers such as ‘Redeem SBI credit points worth Rs 5,899 (sb.rewards.apk)
16. Fake Traffic E-challans: Always verify.
17. Voice Cloning: Scamsters resort to recording and cloning a relative’s voice and send a voice message asking for money as they are stuck somewhere. Before you panic, do due diligence and check if this relative could ever be in this situation, and cross check for genuineness.
18. Information: As a general precaution do not use Google to obtain Customer care nos., as scamsters can also register themselves. Safer to go to the website of the actual company or service you are seeking.
    Numbers to Call:
    – For any Emergency call 112. This has replaced the old 100 etc., & is similar to USA’s 911. Response time of the Police has been within 7 minutes.

• For Cybercrime, only use 1930. Immediate reporting will prevent the fraudsters transaction going through. Give details such Transaction id etc., and, Police will freeze the account. Recovery rate is only 25% today only owing to victims reporting their fraud late.
• Child Helpline 1098.
• UP Police’s comprehensive App called UPCOP. Download this app on your smartphones and utilise for services, even for filing an E-FIR. Once an FIR is filed the Police is duty-bound to investigate.
  There were many questions from the audience which Shri Awasthy dealt with competently. He said that with their initiative of Cybercrime Awareness, such as this presentation, Cybercrime has come down by 33%, even though the number of scamsters have increased exponentially.

by Pradeep U Rao (58-C, SDF)