Coimbatore city police commissioner V. Balakrishnan IPS during his address to students of Sri Ramakrishna College of arts and science on Tuesday caution them that online parcel frauds have affected lot of people, hence he wanted everyone to be aware of this scam and not fall prey to it.

The Coimbatore City Police and Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts & Science jointly organized a Cyber Awareness Program in the college, and the Commissioner took part in it as the Chief Guest. R.Sundar,Managing Trustee, SNR Sons Charitable Trust presided over the session. 

During his address to students, the Commissioner underlined that financial loss due to cyber frauds have increased significantly compared to last year. The loss in 2023 was Rs. 40+ crore whereas it rose to Rs. 95+ crore in 2024.

He alerted them about how ‘Online Parcel Scam’ happens. Usually, crooks target people and make calls to them impersonating as police officials, and falsely accuse them of sending or receiving parcels containing illegal items. They even may say that their mobile number or other personal details like Aadhaar have been used for sending illegal items. The scammers would then demand money to settle these false charges. He wanted the public to be aware of this and act wisely.

He also warned them about a range of online scams, and opined that to protect the public from this, college students should come forward to work together with the police. Cyber Crime Police Inspector P.A Arun then briefed on internet security.

The Commissioner joined R.Sundar and the College's Principal Shivakumar to release a book on cyber security, titled 'Cyber Chronicles'.