Cyber crime cells are helping victims in a big way in recovering stolen money, especially since most crimes are being reported within 24 hours of their occurrence.
Sanyasi Rao, 51, of Ambattur lost ₹39,000 to an unknown online fraudster when he was searching for a customer care number. He immediately lodged a complaint with the Ambattur cyber crime cell, who traced the money trail and spoke to the bank and the payment gateway. The funds were retrieved in a day.
Selvaraj, a businessman from Washermenpet, received an SMS informing him about fraudulent transactions from his account at an Australian bank. The cyber crime cell of the Washermanpet police traced the transaction to Melbourne and contacted the bank, who used the chargeback option to credit the amount back in Mr. Selvaraj’s account within a day.
Francis Anthony Beniger, a businessman, complained to the cyber crime cell of Adyar that an unknown person had cloned his international debit card and purchased some products in Brooklyn, U.S.
He received an SMS charging him $600 (₹46,000) for the fraudulent purchases. The cyber cell immediately got in touch with his bank and the transaction was blocked. The following day, Mr. Beniger received a full refund.
“On any complaint, we are able to initiate chargeback on OTP or any other financial frauds. We can stop the payment if the victim lodges a complaint within 24 hours. Our success depends on their awareness,” said a senior police officer who supervises cyber crime cells.
Cyber crime cells, inaugurated by Police Commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, are functioning in the city’s 12 police districts since August 1. A cell comprises of four to six police personnel, led by a sub-inspector with expertise in cyber crimes. Deputy Commissioners of Police directly supervise the operations.
According to the police, the cells have received 1,010 complaints so far. Over 143 complaints were solved and investigations into 460 of them are nearing completion. About ₹30 lakh have been retrieved from culprits. The cells handle complaints on cyber stalking, harassment on social media, posts containing obscene and pornographic material and bank frauds.
The cells have also been entrusted with the job of tracing stolen or missing mobile phones.
A senior police officer said, “All complaints on missing phones and theft of mobile phones have been forwarded to cyber crime cells. Using IMEI numbers, the phones are traced and recovered. Over 1,200 mobile phones have been retrieved and handed over to the original owners.”