Mumbai: Woman whose WhatsApp was hacked rues hurdles in reporting cyber fraud

A citybased woman fell victim to a cyber scam after receiving a WhatsApp message from her motherrsquos number requesting a onetime password OTP only to later discover that both their accounts had been hacked The hacker posing as the victim sent messages to her contacts seeking Rs 30000 for alleged medical expenses While she lost nothing in terms of money her experience highlighted the failure of enforcement agencies in handling cyberrelated crimesSara Gharami name changed a 46yearold woman from Mumbairsquos western suburbs describes herself as an educated successful and independent individualmdashsomeone who never imagined falling victim to cybercrime However her frustration lies more with law enforcers than the fraudsters she saidRecounting the incident Sara told midday that last week she received a WhatsApp message from her motherrsquos number ldquoThe message said I must have received an OTP and my mother asked me to share it At that moment I was preoccupied with several things and why would I doubt my own mothermdasheven though I see countless social media posts from Mumbai Police warning against sharing OTPs But this was my mother and like a fool I shared it Within minutes my WhatsApp was hackedrdquo she saidAfter hacking into her WhatsApp the fraudsters messaged all 194 of her contacts posing as her ldquoThe message claimed I was in urgent need of money and requested Rs 30000 Many of my clients who are based outside India wouldnrsquot have been able to send money but they started reaching out to memdashalong with my friends in Mumbaimdashasking if something was wrong with my health Thatrsquos when I realised I had been targeted in a cyber fraudrdquo Sara said As soon as Sara realised what had happened she attempted to reach Mumbai Police Her first instinct was to dial 100mdashthe cityrsquos emergency helplineldquoI was on hold for over two hours waiting for someone to answer When an officer finally picked up all he said was that they lsquodonrsquot handle cyberrelated mattersrsquo and advised me to contact the lsquocyber policersquo providing a random numberrdquo she said However when she called the cybercrime helpline it took another one and a half hours for someone to respond ldquoThe official on the helpline advised me to call back the next morning to BKC cyber police she saidLeft with no choice Sara took matters into her own hands After some online research and discussions with her peers she came across the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal where she successfully filed a complaint However she received no confirmation regarding its registrationlsquoScammers were defiantrsquoldquoThe Mumbai Police raves about cyber fraud awareness on social media constantly advising citizens on what to do and what not to do But is that enough to actually protect usrdquo Sara said ldquoThis experience made me realise the ground realitymdashwe donrsquot have an effective mechanism to handle cybercrime cases While my WhatsApp was hacked I was able to communicate with the fraudsters through my motherrsquos number They were so confident about not being caught that they told me outright lsquoGo to any police station we donrsquot carersquo This reflects their audacity and complete lack of fear Itrsquos arbitrary and something must be done because these fraudsters are far ahead of both the public and law enforcementmdashand theyrsquore only getting stronger with each passing dayrdquo she said adding that a police officer whom she informed about the nonchalant attitude of the fraudster responded saying ldquokya kar sakte hain madamrdquoStats speakIn 2024 Mumbai saw a significant surge in cybercrime incidents From January to September the city registered 4054 casesmdasha 27 per cent increase from the 3191 cases reported during the same period in 2023 The Mumbai Police reportedly solved 920 of these cases and arrested 970 individuals last year Additionally in 2024 Mumbai residents lost approximately Rs 1181 crore to cyber fraud over 11 months out of which the Mumbai Policersquos helpline team managed to save over R150 crore during this period and blacklisted 6500 suspicious mobile devices In the first 11 months of 2024 cybercrimes in Mumbai increased 350 per cent compared to 2023 according to data from five cyber police stations under the Mumbai PoliceTargeted by cybercriminals Herersquos what to dogtgt Dr Prashant Mali a cyber law and cyber security expert laid out the steps a cybercrime victim should take upon realising they have been targetedgtgt The first step is to dial 1930 the tollfree cyber helpline to report the fraud This can help victims block fraudulent transactions and seek assistance Upon registering the victim receives an acknowledgement number via SMS Complaints can also be filed through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal httpscybercrimegovin which routes the case to the nearest police station for investigation A police officer will contact the victim to record statements and if necessary the complaint may be converted into an FIRgtgt Victims can also visit their nearest police station In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region every police station has a dedicated cyber cell managed by designated officers Victims should submit a written complaint in two copiesmdashone of which will be stamped and returned as proof of submission They should also provide all evidence in printed form