Citizen Clinic: How to protect yourself from cyber fraud

by December 13, 2023 Governance
Cyber crimes are rising at an alarming rate. Join us as we bring together a panel to discuss safety guidelines and redressal mechanisms.

The latest figures from the National Crime Records Bureau show a sharp rise in cyber crimes across India. In 2022, 65,983 cases of cybercrimes were registered, an increase of 13,009 from 52,974 in 2021.

Although Bengaluru, India’s IT capital, has the highest number of cyber crime cases registered in India, every single city and town are seeing increased instances of cyber frauds, cyber bullying, threats – sometimes resulting in tragic suicides of the victims.

Cyber crimes range from a simple financial scam of syphoning money from people’s bank accounts by asking for OTPs on phone to gullible customers to far more elaborate frauds wherein data and privacy of victims are breached, used for financial transactions that are hard to trace. Sometimes victims are threatened with physical violence. In many cases, senior citizens have lost their life’s savings to such scams. On the other hands, youngsters fall into these traps trying to avail loans, jobs or some financial incentives.

Cyber crime police and financial institutions conduct awareness campaigns and issue guidelines. However, the investigation, prosecution and conviction numbers are far from encouraging.

In this citizen clinic, our panel of experts will address questions from the public on the kinds of frauds which are taking place and how to safeguard oneself against them.

  • Focus on types of crime
  • How to protect ourselves – Do’s and Don’ts
  • Redressal – who is responsible – banks, wallet companies?
  • Legal recourse – Data privacy

Read more: Cybersafety tips: Before you decide to download that app, read this

poser
Experts with wide experience in the domain will respond to the queries crowdsourced from the public.

Event details:

  • Event Title: How to protect yourself from cyber fraud?
  • Date and Time: 15 December 2023, Friday from 6:00 pm onwards
  • Survey link: https://bit.ly/cyber_fraud (If you or someone you know has faced a crime, please fill up this form)
  • The discussion will be livestreamed on our Youtube channel.

Panellists:

  • Sanjay Shintre (IPS) – Superintendent of Police, Maharashtra Cybercrime
  • Karan Saini – Cyber security expert
  • N S Nappinai – Supreme Court Advocate and founder of Cyber Saathi
  • Gautam Mengle – Senior Assistant Editor – Mid-Day
  • Moderator: Prachi Pinglay-Plumber – Consulting Editor for Citizen Matters, Mumbai

Also read:

Sections:

About News Desk

The News Desk at Citizen Matters puts out Press Releases, notifications and curated information useful to the urban reader.
Read more by News Desk

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Similar Story

Bengaluru is building ward-level climate action plans: Here is how

by December 18, 2025 Governance
The Climate Action Cell will develop ward action plans for ten wards in five city corporations of Bengaluru. These will be replicated in other wards.

In Varthur, east Bengaluru, residents watch in dismay as leachate from garbage trucks seeps into the Varthur Lake. “We need a local composting or bio-methanisation plant right here in the ward,” insists Jagdish Reddy, a resident. He points out that irregular waste collection and burning of leaf litter are not just polluting water bodies but also affecting air quality. Across the city, the problems are varied, but the frustration is the same. In HSR Layout’s 5th sector, open drains reek, and roads flood with the slightest rain, says Jyothi G Prabhu. Meanwhile, Gunjur resident Chetan Gopal points out that the…

Continue reading

Similar Story

Confusing forms, tight deadlines: Inside the flawed SIR process

by December 1, 2025 Governance
Enumeration deadline extended to Dec 11th; as Chennai voters and BLOs race to wrap up, we give you a lowdown on the process.

In Chennai’s Perumbakkam resettlement site, residents working as domestic workers leave home at 9 am and return only after 6 pm. For them, the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) seems almost impossible to navigate. A community worker from the area observes that in earlier voter roll verifications, households received a simple part-number booklet. Now, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) set up camps instead of going door-to-door, asking residents to collect the forms themselves. The new form asks for additional details such as parents’ voter IDs, which many residents do not know, she adds. With low literacy levels,…

Continue reading