300 cyber complaints in a month: City police set up 24x7 helpdesk

Ludhiana: Getting at least 300 complaints of cyber crime on an average every month, the Ludhiana police commissionerate has come up with a 24x7 cyber crime helpdesk for residents. The helpdesk has been set up at Sarabha Nagar police station.
According to officials, it is the first ever 24x7 cyber crime helpdesk in the state. Importantly, the initiative has been taken considering the fact that the majority of financial crimes are reported in night hours and timely reporting against fraud is of utmost importance.
Earlier, city residents had to visit the top cop with their complaints which were further marked to the cyber crime and thereafter inquired. But, now the complainant can directly visit the cyber crime helpdesk.
Besides, the city police have also launched a local helpline 95011-01930.
According to the data of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the Ludhiana police commissionerate is fifth in the state when it comes to FIRs on cyber crimes and cyber frauds.
Ludhiana police commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu, who inaugurated the cyber crime helpdesk, said this help desk would function 24x7. Two cyber helpdesk officers will remain present in two shifts to entertain complaints of the residents. Also a local helpline number against the cyber crime has been launched.
“It has been observed that the most financial crimes occur in late night hours as cyber fraudsters also know that the victim would not be able to contact the bank at night or no legal proceedings could be taken against them so late. Therefore, it was necessary to have a helpdesk that works at night too, especially in a city like Ludhiana which is called the financial capital of Punjab,” Sidhu said.
The top cop said that the cyber helpdesk official will help the victims in lodging their complaints with the national cyber crime reporting portal and helpline 1930 if required.
Inspector Jatinder Singh, in-charge, cyber cell, said, “The timely reporting of the cyber crime is important because as soon as a complaint is reported to the national cyber crime portal, the transaction of the money could be stopped by the authorities. The modus operandi of the cyber fraudsters reveals that when a fraudster transfers money in an account, they further transfer it into more accounts so that they don’t get caught easily. Usually, these bank accounts are opened using forged identity proofs.”
The inspector said though 1930 is a national helpline where a victim can call at night too, at times the number remains busy or unavailable. In that case, the local authorities would get the case reported to the portal.
Inspector Jatinder also said on an average the Ludhiana police commissionerate receives over 300 complaints related to cyber crime in a month, of which 70% are related to financial crimes and 30% regarding harassment, stalking, fake profiling etc.