Keeping in view the rising number of cyber financial fraud cases in the state, the Cyber Crime Cell of the Punjab Police has urged citizens to dial Toll-Free Helpline number ‘1930’ to report any financial fraud committed via cyber means.

This new shortened version of National Helpline number ‘1930’ has replaced the existing helpline number ‘155260’, which was initially introduced by the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) under the project Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) to prevent financial loss of the citizens victimised by cyber financial frauds.

Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab VK Bhawra said that earlier, this facility was available on a single hotline between 9 am to 5 pm during working days only, which has now been upgraded and is functioning 24X7 on two hotlines to solve the problem of line engagement while registering the complaint.

“Now, citizens can register complaints regarding cyber financial frauds anytime by dialling 1930,” said the DGP, adding that a well-equipped and trained team of State Cyber Crime Cell is working round-the-clock to save the hard-earned money of the citizens.

ADGP Cyber Crime, G Nageswara Rao further informed that, while calling helpline number 1930, the complainant must carry information including bank details of the victim (account number, debit card number), details of the suspected transactions (transaction ID reference number or bank statement), details of suspect (account number of suspect or mobile number of suspect) and calling mobile number of the fraudster.

He said that once the complaint has been lodged through this helpline number, a ticket gets escalated to the concerned banks, wallets, merchants, depending on whether these are the victim’s bank or the bank or wallet in which the defrauded money has gone.

“If defrauded money is still available, the bank will put it on hold, not allowing the fraudster to withdraw the money. If the defrauded money has moved out to another bank, the ticket will get escalated to the next bank to which the money has moved out. The process will be repeated until the money is saved from reaching the hands of the fraudsters,” he added.

Meanwhile, on lodging the complaint, the victim will then receive an acknowledgment number of the complaint through SMS and be directed to submit complete details of the fraud on the national cybercrime reporting portal (https://cybercrime.gov.in/) within 24 hours, using the acknowledgement number.