Cybercrimesrecord300%

IN NAVI MUMBAI

NAVIMUMBAI: NaviMumbaipolice commissionerate has reported a decrease in conventional crimes inthecityin2019andanincrease in the non-conventional crimes, a trend witnessed in the country.

Cybercrimes saw 350% increase in Navi Mumbai last year.

As per the figures released by Navi Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Kumar at the annual crime report press conference of the commissionerate, 417 complaints were received by the cyber cell in 2019 as against 120 in 2018.

Kumar said, “Cybercrimes have risen by more than 300%. There are also issues of proxy servers being used.”

Of the complaints, 354 cases were favourably resolved with the victims getting back their lost money or the issues being resolved and hence cases were not registered.

A total of 63 cases amounting to a loss of ₹2.42 crore are pending.

The cases pertain to friendship to cheating through social media, online fraud, card cloning, job fraud, OTP and data theft, OLX fraud, matrimony website online fraud and online dating app fraud.

“We haveseven police officers and two experts to deal with cybercrime cases. The setup is adequate as we have the expertise for the criminal complaints,” said Kumar.

He said, “But we are improving and upgrading keeping in mind the increase in crime. Cybercrime is a dynamic crime not a static one.”

Kumar said character and content of each crime is different. “The most common cybercrimeisonlinepaymentthrough walletswherelinksaresent, people click and lose money. People fall for this easily.”

Stating that awareness is the key, Kumar added, “Lack of awareness and greed makes victims out of the common man. Therewasaninstanceofasenior citizen being cheated of ₹74 lakh through a bogus dating app. The police can do little in such cases to prevent the crime.”

He advised people to be vigilant and not be lured by offers and attractive gifts.

“There are strangers on the internet and they cannot be your friends so do not trust them and fall into traps,” said Kumar.

Fraud cases through social media saw 97 cases in 2019, out of which, 86 were solved.

› We have seven police officers and two experts to deal with cybercrime cases. The setup is adequate as we have the expertise for the criminal complaints. But we are improving and upgrading keeping in mind the increase in crime. Cybercrime is a dynamic crime not a static one. There was an instance of a senior citizen being cheated of ₹74 lakh through a bogus dating app. The police can do little in such cases to prevent the crime. SANJAY KUMAR, police commissioner, Navi Mumbai