Therefore, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have devised a system to identify and block such incoming international spoofed calls from reaching any Indian telecom subscriber. 

The DoT has already taken many initiatives including the citizen-centric Sanchar Saathi portal (https://sancharsaathi.gov.in/) to protect telecom users.

Despite best efforts, there may still be some fraudsters who succeed through other means. For such calls, the public is requested to help everybody by reporting such suspected fraud communications at the Chakshu facility on Sanchar Saathi website.

Members were advised on how to tackle the problem and in resolving the issues. Safety measures and tips were shared with the audience to prevent possible cheating when answering calls from unknown numbers. They also briefed on the immediate steps to be taken when anyone got cheated and transferred money.

The program was attended by more than 50 members. The following contact details were shared to report cybercrime issues – Cybercrime Website: www.cybercrime gov.in; Cybercrime helpline numbers: 1930, 155260.

The President of CySI, K.M.Vijayakumar and Secretary Balu Swaminathan along with other panellists / dignitaries lit the lamp. Joint Treasurer of CySI K.Murugan welcomed the gathering. Master of Ceremony Adhilakshmi Logamoorthy, Advocate, introduced the panel members and speakers. K.M.Vijayakumar acted as the moderator for the panel and explained the various types of cyber crimes committed.

Balu Swaminathan, Secretary of CySI and retired Additional Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime), spoke on the recent trends in cyber crime. He emphasised the need for preferring complaints by every cyber crime victim. He further stated that everyone should insulate themselves against various types of cyber crimes, by becoming more and more aware of such crimes.

V.Premanand, Vice-President of CySI, spoke on Ransomware and explained about it with examples and live cases of ransomware attacks. “Normally such Ransomware attacks target large corporations and companies. To combat such attacks we need awareness, and practice taking backups on a regular basis,” he said.

Mr.Raman, Jt.Seceretary of CySI, spoke on online job rackets/scam and shared few case studies while also explaining how the scam operated. Ms. Pramila, Inspector of Police (Cyber Crime) spoke on how to combat cyber crimes. She explained the work of the Cyber Crime wing of the Tamilnadu Police, their efforts in creating awareness about various cyber crimes (financial and non-financial) and how not to fall victim to it. She also stated that in case anyone falls victim, they should immediately dial 1930 and report it. Awareness is the key to escape from cyber crimes.

Mr.Thomas, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) stated, “Scams are committed by the fraudsters by threatening, creating sympathy and also inducing the desires,” and gave statistics of different types of cyber crimes reported last year.

The panel discussion was followed by a Q&A session. The program came to an end with a vote of thanks by Mr. Neelakantan, an EC member.