Malerkotla police launch cybercrime awareness drive

The police have launched a drive to create awareness on cybersecurity among the residents.

The drive was kicked off during the inaugural session of a seminar held by the Lions Club under supervision of Malerkotla SSP Gagan Ajit Singh today.

DSP (Special Branch) Ranjit Singh Bains said cops led by Cyber In-charge Manpreet Singh had launched the campaign to spread awareness on irresponsible online financial transactions and sharing important information with strangers. “Increased use of Internet is also one of offshoots of the pandemic when majority of people, including the students, worked online,” he said.

Bains urged the residents to avoid clicking on links and posts received from unknown sources.

Speakers said action could be taken against the miscreants if the victims of cybercrime contact the police at the earliest. The residents were told about helpline numbers 1930 and 112.

Similar drives had been launched earlier in pursuance of directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The first Wednesday of each month was observed as “Cyber Awareness Diwas”. The circle officers and SHOs were asked to ensure that adequate proactive measures were taken to prevent cybercrime due to lack of awareness among frequent users of the Internet.

The SSP said workshops would be organised periodically by designated personnel.

To combat crimes related to the Internet, the Information Technology Act, 2000, was enacted with the primary objective to create an enabling environment for commercial use of Information Technology.