Bhubaneswar: Worried over the spate in cyber frauds, the Commissionerate Police on Thursday launched a special helpdesk and helpline number to initiate immediate action against the offenders.
Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi today said that people can immediately seek help of police if they fall victim to any tricks of the online fraudsters.
The Helpdesk will function from the Special Squad Office and it will be managed by one sub-inspector rank officer and seven constables.
People can lodge their complaints or seek help by calling the Helpline number -700-000-6709.
Helpline can be used to-
1. To Block the fraud Cell No.
2. To track the involved money trail and to freeze the last destination account.
3. Help blocking /deleting fake cell No. and URL from the Search Engine.
4. Help blocking repeated harassing / Strange Nos.
“Digital transactions are rising and people are extensively using debit-credit cards, internet banking and other UPI platforms for making various financial transactions. Through the Helpdesk and Helpline, we want to strengthen our mechanism to create awareness among people as well,” said Sarangi.
According to Sarangi, in case of online fraud, people can lodge complaints or seek assistance within 24 hours. However, the first hour is always crucial as the police can take steps to block financial transactions committed by the fraudsters to some extent, he said.
The Police Commissioner also appealed public to share phone numbers of anonymous callers, seeking their personal details including OTP or ATM Pin numbers, with police so that such numbers can be blocked with the help of other agencies.
The police official said that one SIM card is usually used to commit one offence. The Helpdesk will offer several services to people, including blocking and retrieving the money lost to online fraudsters, he said.
Sarangi further said that a lot of people get duped by searching for various telephone numbers on the internet. Apart from this, police will keep a close tab on the mobile numbers which are being used to threaten and blackmail people especially women and girls, he stated.
“In case of money lost or transferred through debit-cards and other banking transactions, it is possible to block the transactions committed by fraudsters. However, it is practically hard to take action in case of UPI transactions as of now,” Sarangi added.
(Edited By Pradeep Singh)