Mumbai cyber police on reiterating the precautions to be taken over work from home scams and other online frauds, issued an advisory for the citizens about the do's and don'ts to keep their finances safe online.
According to the Mumbai police, scammers send fake messages/E-mails offering part time jobs claiming to be from reputed companies and once the victim gets convinced, the scammer asks for money in lieu of training and registration fees etc.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Hemrajsingh Rajput, “With an increase in work-from-home scams and other cyber frauds, we keep updating and issuing advisories for the citizens to read and follow so that they can avoid getting into any such traps. The citizens should be mindful while clicking any links and while surfing the Internet.”
A victim of cyber fraud, Teena Varghese, 29, living at Santacruz West, who was duped with Rs 3000 online in order to get a job, but however managed to get it back, said, “The scammers do not have any empathy towards people and their financial backgrounds, they will extract as much money as they can from their innocent victims. And the worst part is that they disappear without a trace, and all of the victim’s money is gone.”
“People were especially frustrated due to the loss of jobs in the lockdown which led to many such cyber scams. Such crimes not only result in loss of money for the victims but it also affects them mentally. The citizens should immediately contact the cyber crime officials to get their finances back and make the scammers serve a worthy punishment,” she added.
The safety tips according to the advisory regarding work-from-home/ job offer scams included - Refraining from clicking on unverified links, no matter how tempting they look; Being cautious before doing any financial transactions with unknown persons; It is best to report and block suspicious numbers/URL's.
“Never respond to messages from unknown senders on WhatsApp before verification; Never scan barcodes sent from unknown senders; If you have been added to a suspicious WhatsApp group, exit immediately and block the numbers; Do not fall for advertisements offering work-from-home opportunities without verifying their offers thoroughly,” added the police advisory said.
According to Mumbai police, the citizens who fall into cyber traps can contact the police on their Helpline 1930 OR at https://cybercrime.gov.in
Some more dos and don’ts issued by Mumbai police include :
✓ Make your passwords complex and never share them.
✓ Activate 2 Step Factor Authentication on social media.
✓ Check your privacy settings on social networking sites.
✓ Do not click on random Links or download unknown files.
✓ Always keep profile locked and private.
✓ Clear Cookies & Delete Browsing History regularly.
✓ Do not accept request from strangers.
✓ Do not share/download obscene video, images etc.
✓ Always check authenticity of apps. before downloading.
