The Odisha Police has started a Cyber Safety Campaign to educate people about cyber crime. The campaign was launched by Dhenkanal MLA Sudhir Kumar Samal, Collector Saroj Kumar Sethi, SP Gyanranjan Mohapatra, Zilla Parishad president Archana Puhana, and DFO Sumit Kumar Kar. They flagged off a vehicle at Dhenkanal Mini stadium on Gandhi Jayanti. Before the launch, the Collector and the SP held a press conference to raise awareness about cyber fraud and how citizens can protect themselves.
Cyber fraud can result in people losing large amounts of money, and it is often difficult to recover the lost funds or catch the perpetrators. Only an Inspector-level officer is authorized to investigate cyber crime. In one case, a Central government officer’s wife filed a complaint at Dhenkanal Town Police station, but it was not received. The husband then lodged a complaint at Cuttack cyber police station, but no money was recovered and no arrests were made.
In another case, a cyber criminal hacked the mobile number of an Additional District Magistrate and sent a message to someone named Prabhat Kumar Behera, asking for Rs 63,000 to buy home appliances. Prabhat, who knew the ADM, was asked to pay Rs 20,000 in advance. He sent the money on PhonePe, but all the messages were deleted by the cyber criminal. The ADM later discovered that his Facebook ID had also been hacked.
Additional SP Suryamani Pradhan acknowledged that four to five cases of cyber fraud are reported each month in Dhenkanal, but no arrests have been made in any of them. Money has only been recovered in a few cases. The cyber fraudsters often operate from Jharkhand, making it difficult to track them down. SP Gyanranjan Mohapatra stated that not all police officers are trained to handle cyber crimes. The Cyber Safety Campaign aims to raise awareness and prevent people from becoming victims of cyber fraud.
