Dhanbad police’s ‘Wisdom’ offers simple guide to beat cyber fraud
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK Daltonganj, September 1: In an era when cyber fraudsters are constantly devising new ways to dupe people, Dhanbad…
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, September 1: In an era when cyber fraudsters are constantly devising new ways to dupe people, Dhanbad Police have come up with a simple, practical and bilingual guide aimed at helping ordinary people recognise and avoid online scams.
Titled ‘Dhanbad Police’s Wisdom on Prevention of Cyber Crime’, the 98-page book avoids legal jargon and complicated references to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or Information Technology Act. Instead, it relies on simple language, illustrations and short messages to explain how people can protect themselves from cyber criminals.
The initiative has been conceptualised by Dhanbad SSP Prabhat Kumar, City SP Ritwik Srivastava and Rural SP S. Mohammad Yakub, with support from Deputy Commissioner Aditya Ranjan and his public relations team.
The concept, however, draws inspiration from a similar initiative of the Tamil Nadu Police.
The book uses a bilingual approach, with English aimed at readers comfortable with the language and Hindi for the wider public. Its central idea is that cyber safety often begins not with knowledge of complicated laws, but with basic presence of mind.
The book uses cartoon-style illustrations, speech balloons and short, crisp messages to explain common frauds. Even a seemingly sleepy police dog finds a place in the illustrations, giving the otherwise serious subject a lighter touch.
“The book is no lecture. It is no preaching. It is simply a wake-up alarm,” is how several readers described it.
Starting with SIM swap fraud and ending with cyber slavery, the book lists around 30 ways in which people can protect themselves from being cheated by online fraudsters.
Among the scams explained are loan-app fraud, KYC updation scams, fake wedding invitations, sextortion, food-order scams and online shopping fraud.
The section on loan-app scams warns people against offers of instant loans at exceptionally low interest rates, while the KYC scam section highlights how fraudsters exploit people’s fear of bank or mobile-service disconnection to obtain sensitive information.
The book also cautions readers against suspicious wedding invitations sent through messaging platforms, which can contain malicious links or files.
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From sextortion to festival scams
Sextortion is another major threat highlighted in the guide. Fraudsters often lure victims into online conversations and subsequently use intimate chats or images to threaten and extort money.
Food-order scams have also been included, with the book warning people against sharing OTPs or other sensitive banking information with callers claiming to be delivery agents.
With Diwali approaching, the police have also included warnings about online cracker-sale scams, in which fraudsters create fake websites or social-media offers to lure customers with attractive prices.
Rural SP S. Mohammad Yakub told The Jharkhand Story that the timing of the warning was important as festive-season online transactions generally increase.
Readers want it available in schools
The book has also generated an interesting response among people who have gone through it.
A cross-section of students, office-goers and homemakers told The Jharkhand Story that the guide should be made widely available, particularly among young people.
Some suggested that it should be sold in schools and colleges at a nominal price so that students can keep it as a ready reference.
The argument is simple: cyber fraud is no longer restricted to a particular age group, profession or social class. From students and homemakers to businessmen and senior citizens, virtually anyone using a smartphone or digital payment system can become a target.
One college student compared the need for such a guide with books that explain ways to save income tax. While taxpayers often have professional help from chartered accountants, she observed, a person caught in a cyber fraud often has to deal with the consequences largely on his or her own.
A guide that may not go out of date
One of the strengths of the book is that its basic advice is unlikely to become obsolete even as the methods used by fraudsters change.
Scammers may develop new tricks, but precautions such as not sharing OTPs, passwords or banking credentials, verifying suspicious links and refusing to act under pressure remain relevant.
The challenge, however, is whether a publication alone can keep pace with the rapidly evolving cybercrime landscape.
The book could become even more effective, readers suggested, if future editions include real-life case studies of victims and explain how the fraud unfolded, how the victims responded and what could have prevented the loss.
Such examples can make people identify with the situation and understand the financial and emotional consequences of falling into a cyber trap.
For now, Dhanbad Police’s Wisdom represents an effort to take cybercrime awareness out of police stations and legal textbooks and put it into a format that an ordinary smartphone user can understand.
And in the fight against cyber fraud, that may be precisely where the battle has to begin—with a little more awareness and a lot more presence of mind.
