Haryana Police’s Nodal Cyber Crime Police Station, Panchkula has managed to freeze the transaction of more than Rs 55 lakhs siphoned off by fraudsters from a number of online fraud victims across the state.

Sharing details on Monday, Director General of Police (DGP) Haryana, PK Agrawal said under the direction of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, a national helpline number 155260 is functional in Cybercrime Police Station, Panchkula to comprehensively deal with various kinds of cybercrimes.

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Immediate information provided by the victims on 155260 in “golden hour” resulted in retrieving the defrauded amount by freezing the transactions. Soon after receiving the complaint, the cyber cell police contacted bank officials and authorities of the concerned payment apps and gateways. The transfer of cash was stalled after the relevant process and the siphoned off cash was returned to the accounts of the victims, he added.

Terming 2021 as a good year in terms of enhancing capability in handling cybercrimes, the DGP said that Haryana Police has established six new Cybercrime police stations including one each at Police Range of Rohtak, Hisar, Karnal, Ambala, Rewari, and Police Commissionerate Faridabad. Besides, to empower a police station to deal with cybercrime matters, Cyber Desks were also established in each police station of the State, for the convenience of the citizens.

Two other Cybercrime police stations are already functional at Gurugram and Panchkula.

The DGP said that there has been a phenomenal increase in the use of computers, smartphones, and the internet over a period of time. Increased use of technology due to the Covid pandemic in recent times has also led to a sharp rise in online fraud. The addition of more capability would help us detect technology-based crime effectively, he added.

“Haryana Police is committed to providing and creating an ecosystem for dealing with cybercrimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner across the state. Apart from enhancing our capabilities to deal with the menace of cybercrime, we are also conducting cyber safety awareness programmes to prevent fraud and save digital users across the state,” Agrawal said.

The DGP also urged the citizens to remain alert and stay away from any online allurement and immediately report online frauds at 155260, a centralized helpline and reporting platform for victims of cyber fraud incidents.