The Maharashtra Cyber department on Friday launched an anti-phishing portal that connects all stakeholders when it comes to combating the rising menace of phishing. The portal was inaugurated by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Special Inspector General of Police (Maharashtra Cyber) Brijesh Singh said the move was an effort to deal with the issue swiftly and efficiently.
Every day, scores of people from all over the State fall prey to phishing calls, where fraudsters call victims at random and try to cheat them into revealing sensitive bank account details by posing as officials of their banks.
The portal, www.reportphishing.in, aims to bring all the agencies, including banks, payment gateways, and telecom service providers, under one roof so that action can be taken by various agencies at the same time.
“The portal is like a first aid measure. As soon as we get information about a fraud or even an attempt, a message with all the information is sent to all the connected parties. As a result, telecom service providers can try to trace the details of the numbers used, while payment getaways can stop any payments made by the victims, and banks can trace the accounts where the money is going. We have seen instances where money swindled from a victim has jumped through 10 accounts,” Mr. Singh said.