Loan app scam: In touch with Nepal, will take union govt’s help, says Deputy CM Fadnavis

The home department is ready to tackle increasing cyber crimes Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis told the Assembly on Monday The state cops are in touch with the Nepal police in connection with the loan app scam he said Moreover the government will soon establish a cyber intelligence unit and provide them with stateoftheart tech support Fadnavis who is also the home minister added Sources said Fadnavis has assured state agencies of all help that is needed from the Centre midday was first to trace the scamrsquos roots to Nepalbased facilities being run by Chinese nationalsFadnavis made the announcement following questions about increasing cyber crimes in the Maharashtra Legislative Council He said cyber fraudsters have been operating from different states and countries Referring to the loan app scam being run from Nepal the deputy CM said ldquoThe Chineserun loan app call centres operate from Nepal The state police are in touch with the Nepalese policerdquoCyber unitldquoCybercrime has always been one of our top priorities and we previously established Maharashtra Cyber as a nodal agency to strengthen the state police with 34 cyber laboratories across Maharashtra The time has come to further strengthen the same and we are thinking in that direction of establishing a cyber intelligence unit CIU which will be more competent to handle serious cyber offencesrdquo Fadnavis saidAlso readDelhi police bust Chineserun loan app scam 22 heldFadnavis said the sleuths at the CIU will be trained in handling cyber crimes using advanced technology Representation picThe minister said the Maharashtra cyber police have a small lsquoCyber Watchrsquo module that tracked the loan app operators in Nepal and took action against them Now the state government is considering training cyber sleuths and outsourcing technology for tracking and blocking of threats and detection of crime Under the plan a software company will work on the technical aspect of digital frauds to help the Maharashtra police deal with cyber casesHe recalled his visit to the headquarters of Microsoft which has been working relentlessly to secure its customers and is assisting the police department ldquoIt is their Microsoftrsquos job to block cyber threats I was told that India gets a cyber threat every three seconds In the police cyber department the staff becomes technically obsolete in a couple of years and we cannot make them train in advanced agerdquo he saidOutsourcing wonrsquot mean handing over everything to the private parties they would only assist the police with technology he assured He cited an example of passport service wherein Tata Consultancy Services does the technical groundwork but the government decides who gets a passportData securityFadnavis also talked about data security and action in case of misuse under the countryrsquos Data Protection Act and similar laws in other countries The company will directly handle the task of providing technology for cyber crime detection he addedResponding to a question in the Assembly he said the officer inspector general rank who heads Maharashtra Cyber department is considered as a side posting even though she is important because there is no structure that goes down the line ldquoWe will make the officer responsible for structured work The officer holding the charge will be given a good posting after serving a stint in the cyber departmentrdquo he addedMaharashtra Cyber a nodal agency was established during Fadanvisrsquos tenure as the CM in 2016 Though upgraded once earlier the office at Bandra Kurla Complex would be improvised further said FadnavisPublic awarenessHe also said that a massive public awareness programme about cyber crimes could be conducted throughout the state because in the future road crimes will be replaced by white crimes such as cyber fraudsIn another announcement he promised action against entertainment software piracy ldquoThe cyber crime IG will be asked to have deliberations with the producers to know what they want The policy will be formed after due deliberationsrdquo he saidAsked to check the frauds on matrimonial sites He said the government could ask the companies to get affidavits from their respective clients stating that their information is true because giving out false information is a crime ldquoThere is no mechanism right now but the IG cyber will be asked to verify what ways are available currently and what could be done further to check this particular crimerdquoMeanwhile sources said Fadnavis was also briefed by the Maharashtra Cyber and the Mumbai police particularly on loan app harassment cases and he had asked both cyber wings to take the matter to its logical end