Cybercrime on the rise in Jamshedpur, criminals become active during lockdown

Jamshedpur: There has been a spurt in cases of cybercrime amid the lockdown restrictions. Unregistered websites offering home delivery of items –right from liquor to essential services– have become hunting grounds for cyber criminals here.

In fact, some of them even succeeded in duping people in West Bengal on the pretext of delivering liquor to their doorsteps, news reports have said. Cybercrime cases are also on the rise in the city. In the last four months lone 45 such cases have been reported. The crime has shot up this year, going by the increasing number of petitions and complaints that the police are receiving. Going by the number of cases being reported in the city, Jamshedpur may emerge as second Jamtara, a town notorious for being a hub of cybercrime in the state.

Recently Bistupur Cyber Police recently arrested five members of the cybercrime gang from the various areas of the city, who were acting like Jamtara cyber thugs.

The arrested thugs included Vikas Tiwari of Sidgora number 10 Basti, Ravinder Singh of Golmuri Namda Basti, Dilpreet Singh of Birsanagar Prakash Nagar, Jagjit Singh and Bribh Bharti of Golmuri Tuiladugari. The police are on the lookout for chief gangsters Mohmmed Arif and Mohammed Aftab.

In three months, the gang had duped about 500 people and made a transaction of Rs 2 crore. SSP M Tamil Vannan said that after checking the bank account of the gang members, the information was found that Rs. 84 lakh transaction has been made in Vikas Tiwari’s account, 67 lakh in Bribha Bharti’s account, 33 lakh in Ravinder’s account and more than 24 lakh in Dilpreet Singh’s account. They have been involved in siphoning off amounts from the bank customers and customers of other financial organisations by making fraudulent means in the steel city.

Though a coordination meeting was recently conducted by Bistupur Police with bankers and cybercrime police officials regarding rising cybercrimes but the situation remains the same.

“Cybercrime has emerged as a major challenge today.  Unlike the conventional crime, in cybercrime, the criminals use no weapon and their weapons are the internet, mobile phone, and netbanking.  We call the cybercrime a big challenge as a cybercriminal has not to come to the field in the open,” noted another police official.

He pointed out to some extent they are able to detect other forms of cybercrime like posting objectionable materials on Facebook, putting objectionable materials for arousing religious sentiments and cheating girls by means of Facebook having created a Facebook account on fake ID, but are behind detecting the fraudulent withdrawal.

Sources in the city police said complaints of hacking of email accounts and complaints of people falling prey to phishing mails or becoming a victim of other online frauds have been reported till October this year.

The latest trend in cybercrime is that of making fake Facebook ids and seeking money from fake friends.

” Jamshedpur may emerge as the second Jamtara going by the number of cases being reported. People still fall prey to incidents of fraud transactions as they are lured to share their personal information through fake calls,” said a cybercrime expert.