HimachalCalling: In the recent trends, it has been witnessed that Himachal residents are duped by fraudsters, who pose as fake buyers or sellers on social media

From fake crypto coins to promising exorbitant returns in a short span of time through investment in share markets to winning lotteries, greed has been a major driving force amongst the people of the state, who fall in trap of cyber fraudsters. This year from January 1 to July 4, the people of the state lost Rs 63 crore to cyber fraudsters.

Over the past few years, the state has witnessed a massive surge in cybercrime complaints, most of which are of financial frauds.

In the recent trends, it has been witnessed that Himachal residents are duped by fraudsters, who pose as fake buyers or sellers on social media. These fraudsters dupe people of their hard earned money on the promise of arranging jobs, providing easy loans and making more money via lucrative investment offers.

Mohit Chawla, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), State CID Cybercrime, said, “It is important for the people to use social media carefully and not post pictures and videos that reveal too much about their personal life and financial status. Scammers uses these posts as information to find their next target as they think that the person might be having a good amount of money.”

He has said the people should be more vigilant and confirm from the authorities concerned before investing in shares and firms or sending money to any unknown person. He appealed to the people to always be updated and aware of cyber frauds, besides asking them to never share personal or financial details within anyone and to always keep on updating passwords of their social media handles.

The DIG said any instance of cybercrime should be reported at toll-free helpline number 1930. He said the complaint was immediately registered through this helpline number on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and immediate action initiated for its resolution.

To combat rising cybercrimes, various initiatives were taken by the state government, he said. Last year, the Himachal Pradesh Police had established a “CY-Station” in Shimla, which functions round the clock and is equipped to handle cybercrime-related complaints more efficiently.