During the lockdown, cyber criminals adopted new ways. (Representational) Cyber frauds increased during the lockdown period in Delhi as gangs and individuals targeted people with fake job letters, KYC verification and fake social media profiles, said police Friday. According to data shared by police, maximum cyber crimes were reported between May and August last year — around 4,000 cases each month.
Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava said his force is dedicated to solving the crimes. “Each district in Delhi has specific cyber cells… Cyber crimes had peaked during Covid time and declined after a few months,” he said.
During the lockdown, cyber criminals adopted new ways. “People created fake government websites providing jobs to doctors and nurses for Covid patients. Then there were people selling sanitisers, PPE kits and food on fake websites… Some hackers also gained access to bank accounts with KYC platforms… The QR code cheating through an online reseller website became famous,” said Joint CP (CyPad) Prem Nath. Over 1.49 lakh people were cheated using fake websites, said police.
Delhi Police also trained 1,280 officers across the city to probe cybercrime cases on video calls during lockdown. “We are working with 44 banks, e-wallet companies and online merchants to prevent such crimes,” said police.