Siliguri, Nov. 2 -- Despite several awareness campaigns conducted by the police, cyber fraud cases continue to rise in Siliguri. October-observed nationally as Cyber Security Awareness month-saw a surge in online fraud complaints, with the Cyber Crime Police Station receiving cases amounting to over Rs 60 lakh in total.
According to police sources, around 10 formal complaints were lodged this month, leading to the freezing of 15 bank accounts connected to the frauds. Cyber officers revealed that scammers are operating through an extensive, countrywide network, dispersing siphoned money across multiple accounts to avoid detection.
One of the major complaints was lodged by Abhishek Kumar Mittal, a resident of Siliguri, on October 13. Mittal alleged that he befriended a woman on social media who introduced him to an online investment group. Trusting her, he invested Rs 6.5 lakh-only to realise later that he had been cheated. The woman subsequently blocked him on social media.
In another instance, Nabanita Mukherjee and Bidyut Kumar Sarkar lost money through fraudulent investment schemes promoted on Facebook. Similarly, Dalbindar Singh Soni, another Siliguri resident, fell prey to a cyber fraud after receiving a suspicious video message. "I deleted the message, but soon after, my phone froze. Within minutes, I started receiving alerts of money being debited from my account," Soni said. He reportedly lost around Rs 1.5 lakh.
A senior cyber officer said: "We have conducted numerous awareness drives, and such initiatives are still ongoing. However, people remain unaware and careless about online safety. We are trying our best to crack all the cases."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.