With the rise in digital transactions and their spread to the interiors of the country, complaints related to banking fraud are on the rise in Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Statistics reveal that around 50 per cent of total registered cyber crime complaints at Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC), Chandigarh are related to banking fraud. Sources said that with the rise of complaints related to cyber- crime, the staff crunch at CCIC, Sector -17 has impeded cyber-crime investigations. Large numbers of complaints are reported from the victims in Chandigarh but few cases are registered.

As per registered complaints, some people in Chandigarh receive phone calls from fraudsters who while being based in states like Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Bihar and other states call them up while posing themselves as branch managers or employees of banks. They say that your ATM is blocked and to open it share them ATM’s password. In this way, they dupe those people who share them password of ATM or One Time Password.

Moreover, one of the fastest-growing types of fraud is online payment. Fraudsters make fake website and offer some discounts or profit on online items to victims and illegally ask them to share one time password and other bank details. Fraudsters sitting in far flung areas of the country dupe innocent people of lakhs of rupees.

A complainant said that she had purchased some items worth Rs 8,000 through online. She received several calls from a person claiming company representative. As per representative’s direction, she shared OTP number related to her account and Rs 8,000 was withdrawn. According to her, said items were not delivered. She reached at CCIC, Sector 17 and registered a complaint regarding the same.

Increasing bank fraud and cyber crime cases on daily basis have become a problematic issue for the people while official investigating such cases stated that cyber crime had become an industry. Lack of awareness among the people and tricks used by frauds continue to fuel cyber crimes and banking fraud, the official said, adding cases of cyber crimes, including cheating the people through phone calls and forged net-banking transactions, illegal payment through paytm, occurring  thick and fast in Chandigarh as fraudsters hire tech- savvy IT professionals to carry on with such crimes. Such IT professionals are helping the gang members with the mobile numbers of the potential victims.

On the condition of anonymity a Police official at CCIC, Sector -17 said that around four or five such cases are being reported on daily basis. Complaints of cyber- crime received at Police Stations of UT are also transferred to CCIC, Sector 17. Reports received through sources revealed that 1251 complaints related to cyber- crime were registered in 2014 while 1412 in 2015, 1480 in 2016, 2242 in 2017 and 2369 in 2018. A total of 37 FIRs were registered in 2014, 95 in 2015, 40 in 2016, 43 in 2017 and 26 in 2018.

Moreover, due to shortage of staff, large numbers of complaints are pending in the department. Few people are getting success in receiving their lost money in case they inform the police department soon after occurrence of the incident.

Despite a surge in cases of cyber crime every passing year, there seems to be little effort to strengthen CCIC in UT.

CCIC, Sector -17 became operational in 2010 and exclusively deals with cases related to cyber offences like insurance, lottery fraud, credit and debit card fraud and hacking of email, investment fraud and matrimonial cheating amongst others.

CCIC, Sector 17, in-charge Inspector Devendra Singh cautioned the people against responding to unwanted phone calls. Make no mistake that the bank officials do not ask for ATM passwords. People must not disclose any such information related to bank account details, ATM card, Credit Card and password, OTP over phone under any circumstances.

They should visit their banks instead, he said, adding if you receive an email asking for your credit/debit/ATM card details, delete it. Never response to such emails, even if they seem to official emails from your bank. Change your current PIN from time to time to make it more difficult for fraudsters to guess. According to Police officer, victim can register their complaints through email id- cybercrime-chd@nic.in or make a call on telephone number: 0172-2970600 and their concerns will be redressed.