Alipurduar district police have taken up the task to reach out to people, especially women and senior citizens, in the ongoing Duare Sarkar camps, to make them aware about various forms of cyber crime and ways to avoid falling victim to them.

Since Tuesday, Duare Sarkar camps have started in different parts of the district and will continue till November 30.

“We have set up a space in these venues where our men are imparting awareness among people on cyber crimes. This awareness campaign will continue in all the venues where the Duare Sarkar camps are being held,” said Y. Raghuvamshi, the superintendent of police of Alipurduar, who visited a camp in Sankosh area under Kumargram police station on Wednesday.

In the district, 1,638 camps would be held in different locations, including hills and forest villages.

For the programme, the senior police officers have trained 20 officers and 50 civic volunteers to take sessions with people attending the camps.

“In a number of cases, we have found that people are being fleeced of money by fraudsters who call them and ask them to share OTPs or click on hyperlinks. Among the victims, many are from rural areas, who receive financial assistance from the state government and are not much acquainted with Internet-enabled banking practices,” said a police officer.

Police are underscoring preventive measures such as not sharing OTPs,personal and banking details with unknown callers and not clicking on unknown links sent on cell phones.

“Youngsters who come to the camps are also being told to refrain from sharing their photos, videos and other details with unknown callers and on suspicious webpages to avoid them getting morphed. These days, it is another trap which cyber criminals are using to make money through blackmail,” the officer added.