Cyber Crime Helpline By MHA: Now 155260 Is 1930 To Report And Prevent Cyber Fraud

NEW DELHI: In response to the rising number of cases of cybercrime, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a new cybercrime helpline number 1930, which will replace the earlier allotted number 155260 in a phased manner.

The new cyber helpline number 1930 will work along with 155260 – for the public to file their complaints and receive assistance in recovering their stolen funds.

So, if you’ve been a victim of cybercrime, you may now call 1930 to report it. This new helpline number, like 155360, will serve as an emergency number for anyone who are being targeted by hackers.

Presently, for reporting any cybercrime in States/UTs, helpline number 155260 is operational.

ALSO READ: Step By Step Guide: How To File Cybercrime Complaint Online In India

MHA, with the help of the Department Of Telecom (DoT), has been allotted a new helpline Number 1930, which will replace the earlier allotted number 155260 in a phased manner.

All States and Union Territories are being requested to make the new helpline number – 1930 functional, on priority.

Further, for the convenience of the citizens, both the numbers 155260 and 1930 will be active for few months.

According to officials, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) and the Union Home Ministry launched an initiative to establish and make available to state police forces a Citizen Financial Fraud Reporting and Management System. The country has seen a huge spike in cybercrime cases. Several people during the pandemic reported SIM card cloning and fraudulent transactions involving money being withdrawn from their accounts and transferred to other payment wallets.

How the helpline works:

• Victim dials helpline, manned by a police officer.
• The person is asked to formally lodge complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
• A ticket then gets escalated to the financial intermediaries (FI) concerned.
• The fraud transaction ticket is shown on a dashboard of both the debited Fl (i.e. bank where the victim has an account) and the credited FI (the bank/wallet of the fraudulent beneficiary account)
• The bank/ wallet to which the ticket has been escalated checks for the details of the fraud transaction. If the funds have moved out, it feeds the transaction details in the portal and escalates it to the next Fl. If funds are found available, It temporarily puts them on hold.
• The escalation of the ticket continues till the funds are either put on hold or they have exited the digital ecosystem, either through an ATM withdrawal, physical withdrawal, utility payments, etc

Explaining the steps involved a senior official said when a victim first falls prey to the scam, they call up the helpline with the details of their bank account or e-wallet from which the money had been deducted and if possible the bank account of where the money had been deposited.

“With this information, the police immediately inform the bank or the e-wallet service provider of the fraud. This information reaches the employees on their phones and emails. If the money hasn’t been withdrawn from an ATM or been used to make a payment, the money gets put on hold by the bank or e-wallet service provider on behalf of the police’s request. The money, later on, gets returned to the victim,” the official said.

The victim also needs to personally call their banks or e-wallet service providers to prevent further deductions but calling the helpline number helps in increasing the chances of retrieving the money. The entire system depends on how quickly the financial scam is reported. The earlier it is reported, the better.

This heavily differs from the traditional way of going to a police station to report a crime, in the sense that it takes a few hours for the complaint to be registered with the police station or even cybercrime cell and for the police officers to begin their investigation. Calling the helpline on the other hand, helps begin the retrieval process immediately.

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