A woman who lost money to a cyber fraud not only lost ₹5 lakh of her savings but also the borrowed amount of ₹10 lakh from her friend and another ₹30 lakh loan from a finance company. After losing all the money, she stopped going to work and is now under medication for health complications.
In an effort to help the victims of cybercrimes and provide a platform to air their grievances, the south east division of Bengaluru police launched ‘Cyber Victim’s Day’ on Thursday. The idea of the meeting is also to create empathy among the police officials to help the victims. Some of them even have suicidal tendencies after losing huge amounts, officials said.
Over 2000 cases have been registered related to cyber crimes in the last eight months, and over ₹100 crores have been looted in the south-east division alone. While cyber crimes are on the rise, the detection rates remain low due to technical difficulties, C.K. Baba, DCP, south east division, who chaired the meeting, said.
According to rough estimates, over 15,000 cases related to cybercrime have been registered and money worth several hundred crores lost in all the divisions across the city.
Though in some cases the money is frozen, it is very difficult to recover the money due to inordinate delay from the banks and other agencies concerned. In this situation, the trauma of the victims in terms of social, economic, and professional implications needs redressal, Mr. Baba said .
Hence, the police have decided to start a platform where the victims of cybercrimes to speak out about their issues and create a sense of awareness.
During the launch of the programme held at the DCP’s office, around 100 people attended comprising victims, their family members, and police officials. Many victims shared their experiences of how they fell prey and the aftermath. A majority of them are well-educated professionals who have lost their life savings.
To take the process further, the police said they will meet with the banks to recover the frozen money that has not been returned, and other agencies concerned to expedite the recovery process .
The police have assured the victims of the cyber frauds to provide an update on a regular basis to prevent them from visiting the police station on a daily basis. They have also urged people to report the cyber crime incidents immediately without delay .
