Cyber cons on prowl, seniors watch out!

Ravneet Singh

Panchkula, March 23

Senior citizens in the city are being targeted by online fraudsters. In five of the 20-odd cases registered at the cybercrime police station here, the victims were senior citizens. Fake messages and offers to ‘invest’ in stocks have come as ways to collect bank details from unsuspecting people to dupe them of the money lying in their accounts.

Holding awareness drives: DCP

We have adopted a two-pronged approach. We are holding awareness drives by informing students and elderly about precautions. We are also arresting those behind such crimes and recovering money from them. — Himadri Kaushik, DCP, Panchkula

A 79-year-old resident of Sector 20 lost Rs 2.25 lakh in a cyber scam while he was awaiting a receipt of passport on tatkal basis. He received a fake passport dispatch message, wherein the web link led to an application. The victim who filled in his passport details later found that Rs 2.25 lakh had been transferred from his bank accounts fraudulently by hacking his Paytm account.

A 72-year-old resident of Chandimandir was deceived of Rs 2.28 crore in the name of investing money in stock market. The retired colonel had received a WhatsApp message and calls. He said he was lured with high returns. A 63-year-old resident of Sector 27, Panchkula, was duped of Rs 73,000 while he was attempting to file a sewerage complaint with the HSVP. Rajeev Verma called a phone number to register a complaint but the person on the other side of the line collected his bank account details by directing him to transfer Re 1 to register the complaint. He later counted a loss of Rs 73,000.

Police officials said the scammers usually target senior citizens and women in such cases. They said the cases involve phishing and luring unsuspecting residents in the name of investing money. The department has been spreading awareness among residents on how to protect themselves from cybercrimes.

DCP Himadri Kaushik said the police were carrying out a two-pronged approach. “We are holding awareness drives by informing students and elderly about precautions. We are also arresting those behind such crimes and recovering money from them. We have even deputed more officials to check cybercrime. The state police department is also uploading videos on social media to spread awareness against cybercrime,” she added.

The DCP said, “We People should lodge a complaint on 1930 and national cybercrime portal at the earliest to help freeze the money.” The police are also helping victims recover money through banks and courts, she added.

Rakesh Kumar, SHO, cybercrime police station, said, “Residents should not share any OTP received on their phones nor click any unknown link. They should be sure of the person they talk to on phone and should not send money to strangers for investment.”