Delhi Police To Collaborate With Truecaller To Keep A Check On Calling Fraud

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police is collaborating with caller ID verification platform Truecaller to assist public in identifying confirmed numbers and protecting themselves from cyber frauds and scams involving the impersonation of government personnel.

Truecaller will show official numbers of Delhi Police representatives on the app’s government directory services, in addition to educating Delhiites and organising a combined awareness campaign against cyber frauds, according to police.

“Truecaller was extremely helpful during the Covid pandemic, as several scams and frauds involving the sale of oxygen cylinders, concentrators, medicines, and other requirements involved with treating the fatal virus were recorded. So, our officials recognised the fraudsters’ phone numbers and contacted Truecaller, which flagged those unverified numbers as spam “Suman Nalwa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Public Relations Officer) told media.

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The officer said that they are now drafting an MoU with Truecaller, and they will verify all the official contact numbers of the Delhi Police because scammers have frequently posed as members of the force and extorted money from the public by posting pictures of top officers on their WhatsApp profile.

This will help users identify verified numbers and protect them from fraud and scams involving the impersonation of government officials, according to Nalwa, who added that all Delhi Police verified numbers will have a green badge and a blue tick mark, as well as a government service tag indicating that it has been verified for users.

Truecaller will also label phone numbers provided by the Delhi Police against whom it has received complaints about harassment, scams, or other reported issues, according to officials.

According to the police, this will enable Delhi residents defend themselves and inform them if these numbers stay active.

Earlier this week, a 22-year-old Indian living in Italy was detained for reportedly impersonating India’s Vice President by creating a phoney WhatsApp account using Jagdeep Dhankhar’s picture as his profile display in order to deceive people and gain favours from senior authorities.

Gagandeep Singh, who has been residing in Offanengo, Italy with his family since 2007, got the idea for mimicry after viewing various YouTube videos.

In another case, three men posing as officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Delhi Police Crime Branch were arrested for allegedly extorting 1.8 crore from a retired commandant of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force by threatening to post an obscene video of him on social media platforms.

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Truecaller will also aid to raise awareness about cyber safety by holding cyberwise training sessions with the support of the Delhi Police. According to authorities, it will aid in teaching the public about better ways to combat cyber fraud.

Truecaller trained around 1.6 million Indians last year with the purpose of making digital communication safe.

Officials stated that Truecaller will also disseminate the Delhi Police-cyber safety movies through its online cyber safety curriculum, which will offer push notifications to users within the app regarding Delhi Police’s cyber safety initiatives, crucial helpline numbers, and highlights.