KATHMANDU, JUNE 7

Police today arrested Niraj Kumar Singh, 28, of Parsa district for looting Rs 250,000 from a man of the same place.

Singh had sent a message to Rakesh (name changed) in his social media platforms such as Viber and Imo saying he had won a lottery worth Rs 2.5 million.

Rakesh said that he was chosen winner of the regular lottery programme operated by Viber. But to receive the money Rakesh first had to send 250,000 as tax amount to Singh so that the money could reach him in a few days.

Unaware of Singh's fraudulent intention, Rakesh transferred the money to the given account, but he did not receive the lottery amount. Following this Rakesh could not even contact Singh. Realising that he was swindled, he finally reported the incident to the police and Singh was nabbed on the basis of phone call history and bank account details.

Similarly, a video became viral on social media a few days ago. In the video it was seen that two Raute women were being molested. The video drew flak from the social media users and police arrested three men involved making the video and uploading it on social media platform.

These are only a few representative cases, hundreds of people are becoming victims of cyber crime in the country.

With increasing use of social media, cases of cyber crime have also gone up posing a new challenge for Nepal Police and other law enforcing agencies.

While police often face a hard time arresting cyber criminals, many victims of cyber crime have to live with social stigma.

Keeping this in mind, Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police has urged the public to be aware of fake messages, phone calls and emails on social media. It also told people not to share their bank details, passwords and other sensitive information through social media.

The Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police, issuing a press release, has urged everyone to use social media with caution. It also warned people against creating fake social media accounts, misusing others' information and pictures, defaming others and publishing hate speeches on social media.

Senior Superintendent of Police at Cyber Bureau Nabinda Aryal said that on an average they received up to 32 written complaints related to cyber crime. He, however, thinks that the number is just a tip of the iceberg as the majority of victims do not report such cases.

'Many victims of cyber bullying choose to deactivate their social sites or stay away from such platforms rather than seek help from police,' Aryal said. He further said that in previous years children and women used to become victims of such crimes, but these days, even men are becoming victims.

He said that the effective solution to these problems was awareness regarding use of social media.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 8, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.