VIJAYAWADA: Educated youths should act as ambassadors in spreading knowledge on cyber safety at the community level.
This exhortation was made at a national cyber crime security awareness programme by Bapatla district SP, Uma Maheshwar, at the Bapatla Women’s Engineering College on Friday.
Stressing the need for awareness from the student stage, the SP explained the rapid shift from traditional crimes to technological offences. He noted that mobile phones have become a major tool for criminals who exploit users through fraud links, betting apps and fake investment offers.
He explained that “digital arrest” has no legal standing and advised people not to be deceived by fake “officers” demanding money. Victims of online fraud should immediately call 1930 for grievance redressal, he stated.
The SP presented a simple three-point golden rule— think before clicking, be careful before sharing, and protect personal information—to prevent cyber frauds.
He urged people to avoid unsafe loans and betting apps that collect personal data and drive users into financial distress. He also highlighted the growing incidents of UPI frauds, phishing links and data theft through social media.
The SP urged citizens not to share OTPs or passwords and to set up strong passwords with two-step verification.
Students took a cyber safety pledge online. College president Srinivasa Rao, joint secretary Venkaiah Chowdary, principal G Srinivasa Rao, DSP Ramanjaneyulu and cyber cell inspector T Srikanth participated in the programme alongside students and staff.
