Driven by own loss, student develops app to help fraud victims

Hyderabad: A sense to help others who may suffer a similar fate similar to his family’s, D Rahul Shashank from Warangal developed Cyber Alert, an app to help victims of cyber fraud.
“My mother clicked on a link and lost Rs 10,000 from her account. We did not know whom to approach and how to get our money back,” Rahul, a final year student at College of Law, KL Deemed-to-be-University told TOI.
The app, developed by Rahul and his friends, is not the only initiative in his plans to help victims of cyber crime. The law student also intends to provide to legal aid to victims of cyber crime and internships to students interested in the subject.
“We realised that many lost their money, like us, during the pandemic and did not know what needs to be done. This experience motivated me to start an app to provide all required information to victims,” Rahul said. He added that while he was unsuccessful in getting his money back, he managed to help a relative who lost Rs 80,000 and a friend who lost Rs 10,000, in retrieving the money, with the help of officials.
The Cyber Alert app is available in English and Telugu and helps users file a complaint, search for nearest cybercrime police stations, track complaint status, get material on cyber laws among other important services.
“India was placed 37th worldwide for most dangers associated with surfing the web. The app is a welcome safety measure for the now widely digital India,” said KL Deemed-to-be-University vice-chancellor G Pardha Saradhi Varma.