Cybercrime stall inaugurated at Dasara exhibition grounds

Mysuru: For the first time, city police have utilised the Mysuru Dasara platform to educate the public about cyber offences by opening a stall at the exhibition grounds. Cybercrime must be reported immediately to have any chance of recovering the lost money, cops said.
All these years, the focus was mainly on traffic-related issues, given the number of deaths each passing year. But cyber offences have turned out to be the biggest challenge recently as the number of cases is spiraling upwards.
The stall aims to educate people about over a dozen cyber offences, including OTP fraud, social media fraud, banking fraud, and identity theft. The stall has quick-response codes for all cyber offences and visitors can scan them using their mobile phones and download awareness videos, which they can also share with others.
Mysuru city police commissioner Chandragupta inaugurated the stall, set up by the CID cell State Crime Records Bureau and Mysuru city police jointly.
Chandragupta said visitors will get complete information about cyber offences through videos and posters at the stall. “Of late, cybercrime has been on the rise and we felt the need for awareness on a bigger platform,” he said. Tens of thousands visit the Mysuru Dasara exhibition grounds over a period of two months.
Chandragupta said fraudsters are using the internet to cheat or extort people of their money. The stall would provide information such as how fraud is committed and what precautions are to be taken, the commissioner said.
He also urged the public not to delay in reporting cybercrime to CEN police station.
Meanwhile, CID cybercrime SP MN Anucheth said police have created a helpline, 1930, to receive complaints related to cyber offences. People or victims can also reach out to police on the Emergency Response Support System (112). “We have created about 14 awareness videos which people can download by scanning QR code.”
CID deputy SP KN Yashavantha Kumar, who bagged the ‘India cybercop of the year-2021’ award, was present at the stall.