Hyderabad: The Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau (TSCSB) has started cracking down on cyber criminals by blocking 120 mobile phone numbers and 60 URLs, as well as online handles used by criminals, in a bid to curb rising cybercrimes.
The bureau, a specialised wing of the TS Police, operates out of the Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC), making a note of web links and phone numbers through which potential victims are contacted.
CSB officials said that upon receiving a fraud complaint, they go through the numbers and links provided by the complainants. A majority of such numbers were found to be spamming and scamming people on the pretext of part-time jobs and investment opportunities, promising lucrative returns.
They claimed that their action is based on instances of people not responding to the offers and proactively reporting them. “Majority of them have promised high returns on investments. However, due to awareness or suspicion, people did not respond to them and reported them,” an official said.
The official said that those who received these fraudulent messages and links have not tried them and did not lose any money. As these credentials are updated in the registry, they will be blocked so that they are not used again to commit fraud using the same number or website.
“Although the fraudsters might use other numbers and links to loot people, blocking one means will prevent at least a few from falling in the trap,” the official said.
Cyber vigilance
- 87126-72222 is CSB helpline to report any malicious & suspicious content
- 260 complaints lodged in past month
- 120 fraud mobile numbers blocked
- 60 fraudulent URLs blocked
