School students, log on safely. And top cops will tell you how.

The East Singhbhum police department on Thursday started a three-month awareness programme on cyber safety with a session at Motilal Nehru Public School (MNPS) in Sakchi.

SSP East Singhbhum Anoop Birtharay; DSP (cyber crime) Jayashree Kujur and other officials addressed senior students from Classes X to XII and explained them the innumerable risks on the Internet and how to avoid them.

From phishing to debit card skimmer to online harassment, Birtharay and Kujur explained the dangers that students and their families might be vulnerable to if they were not careful to not “overshare” online. The SSP also presented slides on PowerPoint to students to clarify cyber crime concepts.

SSP Birtharay said it was their social responsibility to make students aware of the dangers lurking online.

“Youngsters are the most vulnerable group and they’re also very active online. But Internet crime doesn’t stop at financial frauds, it can mean hacking, bullying and stalking. MNPS was the first school that we covered. We will try to cover as many schools as possible in the next three months,” said Birtharay. “Yes, also government schools.”

The police department also conducted a couple of similar sessions at the Jamshedpur Women’s College, Bistupur, and the LBSM College in Karadih last month.

School students at MNPS said they were excited as the SSP had addressed them.

Asad Reyaz, a Class XII student of MNPS, said he did not know about how an ATM card skimmer works. “SSP sir explained how. Thieves use a hidden electronic chip to steal personal information stored in the debit card and record the PIN number through a camera or a fake keypad to access money in the bank account. Now I will be more cautious in withdrawing money from an ATM,” said the teenager.

Principal of MNPS Ashu Tiwary called it a “wonderful initiative” by the SSP and his team”.