Cybercrime Alert: Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinoy Kumar Choubey Shares Tips To Avoid Job, Loan & Payment Scams

Pimpri-Chinchwad: It is widely known that cybercriminals lure citizens into their traps using the two emotions of greed (or temptation) and fear. They then demand money for various reasons and commit fraud. Sometimes, they offer the temptation of high returns. Other times, they use the threat of circulating private information to blackmail their victims. Pimpri-Chinchwad Commissioner of Police, IPS Vinoy Kumar Choubey, advised that by remaining vigilant in the digital age, the risk of cybercrimes can be avoided.

As per the instructions of Maharashtra Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the month of October is being observed as Cyber Awareness Month. Under this initiative, Choubey interacted with citizens online about cybersecurity on Tuesday. 12,000 representatives from schools, colleges, IT companies, manufacturing companies, senior citizens, and housing societies participated in this session. IPS Choubey answered all the questions raised by the citizens.

The number of educational institutions is increasing in Pimpri-Chinchwad city, and the number of students passing out from these institutions is also large. These students are being defrauded through fake job and internship messages and links. A student named Suraj Sharma asked a question about this. Answering the question, CP Choubey said, "For job-related updates, one should check the official websites of the respective companies. Check the domain name of the email offering a job. Genuine companies never ask for money for registration or for a job. Confirm the job offer email through the college placement cell. Do not share any personal information without verification."

Responding to a question by local resident Mayank Laddha about how to make online transactions secure, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Chief advised, "Keep two-factor authentication enabled. Use the URL that starts with 'https://'. Avoid using public Wi-Fi for making payments. Do not save your card details anywhere while making online payments. The password used for payments should be strong. The Commissioner advised against sharing the CVV and OTP."

IT professionals are mostly the victims of cyber fraud

The Commissioner revealed shocking information while speaking about which class is most victimised by cyber fraud and which class cybercriminals target the most. IT professionals are the main victims of cyber fraud. Despite working in the information technology sector and having knowledge of all things, many IT professionals fall victim to fraud merely due to the lure of money. Senior citizens are falling prey to frauds like 'Digital Arrest'. There is no such concept as 'digital arrest' in our law.

Praise for the performance of Pimpri-Chinchwad Cyber Police

During the interaction, citizens expressed satisfaction with the many commendable achievements of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Cyber Police and praised their performance. The Pimpri-Chinchwad Cyber Police dismantled a Chinese mastermind's fraud network. These criminals were keeping an eye on citizens by accessing their cloud-linked CCTV cameras. The investigation also revealed the use of AI tools in this. Citizens expressed satisfaction with the Cyber Police for cracking many such complex crimes.

Do not become a victim of a mule account

People are told that someone will send money to their bank account from a gaming company, and the bank account holder will receive 1% of that amount. Do not allow anyone to use your bank account. This account can be used as a 'mule account'. That is, these bank accounts are used to receive the defrauded money from citizens during cybercrime. In such cases, the bank account holder also becomes a co-accused. The police advised citizens to be vigilant about this. The police advised that if money from an unknown account is deposited into your bank account, immediately inform the police so that you do not have to face any legal difficulties.

Beware of loan apps

While downloading any loan app from the Play Store or Apple App Store, it is necessary to check the reviews given below, how many people have downloaded it, and whether the application asks for permission to access confidential data while installing. No official app asks for such permissions. Also, information about the app is available on the concerned bank's official website. Access to confidential information is obtained while downloading the app. Following that, this information is used for blackmail and to demand money. Therefore, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police have advised exercising caution while downloading any such app.

Sarcasm involved in the interaction

The mood was light-hearted and sarcastic, too, in the interaction, which happened on X (formerly Twitter). In this one, a user named Siddhu Paaji asked, "Sir, if a scammer asks for ₹10 to process a ₹10 lakh lottery, can we send ₹5 just to test if he’s genuine?" To which CP Choubey sarcastically replied, "Yes, Sidhu Paaji...do try, and let us all know the outcome as well as your learnings/experiences, but keep in mind any offer that's too good to be true is most likely a scam. My guess is you will be 50% scammed..."

Residents loved the humour and the advice given, nonetheless, by a senior police officer.