Vadodara police gets net-savvy

Officials to attend course on e-commerce to curb cyber crimes

With the rising number of cyber crime cases being reported in Gujarat, specially in major cities such as Ahmedabad and Vadodara, the state police has decided to become tech-savvy.

Officials of the Vadodara City Police will soon start taking lessons from professional chartered accountants to learn the rules of e-commerce to curb the white-collar crime.

Vadodara-based chartered accountant and certified fraud investigator, Sanjeev Shah will conduct a day-long seminar on 'e-frauds and cyber crime' to educate police officers about the emerging field of white collar crime.

Unlawful practices in the cyber world have started through e-shopping, internet time theft, cyber stalking and salami attack with the help of information technology.

"This is high time for us to prepare our system against the upcoming threat from the white-collar criminals. Developed country like USA also do not have a complete system to prevent white-collar crimes like e-frauds. But they have well trained investigators to find and punish the criminal," said Shah, a fraud investigator certified by the Texas based Association of Certified Fraud Examiner.

Shah had also conducted a similar seminar earlier this year for its officers to tackle white-collar crimes in the banking sector.

"White-collar criminals have a different modus operandi than that of the traditional criminals have. So officers should be aware of the new systems in the practice," said Rakesh Asthana, Special Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Vadodara Range.

Despite the fact that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and many other states have already launched special cyber crime investigation cells, there is a need to educate the investigation officer at the ground level as they are the first people to initiate probes into such cases, said Shah.

The highest cyber crime rate has been observed in the usage of credit or debit cards as card owners normally trust the person who handles the card to swipe at the shops or fuel stations. Such practices expose the card number, expiry date and pin number printed on the back of the card, which can be misused.

"Investigation officers need to have an idea on how contemporary transactions take place. This will help them start off in the right direction. The Vadodara police has been proactive in learning new things and we have planned this second training module on the cyber crime," said Shah.

"White collar crime is likely to increase in future with the arrival of new technologies. We need to be prepared ourselves with the knowledge before its get too late and this is going to be one of the efforts being initiated by Vadodara Police," said Asthana.

Casting the Web

• Need felt to educate investigation officers at the ground level on cyber crime
• Cyber crimes usually involve e-shopping frauds, internet time theft, cyber stalking etc.
• A seminar to tackle white-collar crimes in the banking sector was conducted earlier this year