Don Bosco High School, Naigoan (E) hosted the cybercrime workshop

for students from Grade 6 to 9 on 8 January 2024 at 12.00 pm in the school hall.  

Fr. Anthony Fonseca, Principal, warmly welcomed Mr Mangesh Andhare, Police Inspector of Naigoan (E) Police Station. He and his team members from the cyber crime branch conducted the session for 600 students in our school.

Mr Andhare spoke to the students about the increased usage of internet services and smartphones which has made social networking one of the most popular online activities. Social media gives people the ability to interact, communicate, and exchange content—such as images or videos—with others all over the world. He listed a few of the well-known social media sites, including WeChat, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp.  He said, “The tremendous growth in use of social media platforms/ social networking platforms has provided a fertile ground to cyber criminals to engage in illegal activities, cyber bullying and cyber stalking.”

He explained that overuse of mobile phones and different social media platforms by students leads to many frauds and irresponsible behaviour patterns which leads to online addictions. He cautioned them to be extremely vigilant  while handling their devices, especially if they are active on social media, and that they should ideally limit the use of mobile phones only for study purposes such as sharing of notes and use it responsibly. Furthermore, he advised the students to safeguard themselves from exposure to cybercrime by not sharing passwords and OTPs.

He briefed the students on how to protect themselves and their information while using social media platforms: Do not accept friend requests from strangers on social networking sites. Do not share your personal information such as address, phone number, date of birth etc. on social media. Identity thieves can easily access and use this information. Do not share your sensitive personal photographs and videos on social media. Immediately inform the social media service provider, if you notice that a fake account has been created by using your personal information. Always keep location services turned off on your devices unless necessary. Do not allow social networking sites to scan your email account to look for your friends and send spam mails to them without your consent or knowledge. Do not share or forward unverified posts/ news, do not download third-party applications. Share your photos and videos only with your trusted friends by selecting right privacy settings on social media. Always use a strong password by using alphabets in upper case and lower case, numbers and special characters for your social media accounts.

After that, P. I. Andhare gave a rundown of the numerous scams and crimes involving social media use and gave the students a briefing on kid-friendly internet safety advice.

He advised the pupils to file reports if they come across any inappropriate or offensive content, financial fraud, malware, identity theft, or cyberbullying. 

He advised the students to call the National Police Helpline 112, the National Police Helpline for Women (181), and the Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) in case of emergency.

Additionally, he asked the students to be on their guards against antisocial elements such as drug peddlers and alert the Police by dialling 112 if they get any information related to such trouble makers.If students are scared to approach the Police directly then they can inform their parents, teachers or Principal to report the matter.

He also informed the students about what kind of punishment would be given to those involved in cybercrime frauds.

He then encouraged students to ask questions related to the session if they had any. Many students got their doubts cleared and the inspector was happy to answer their questions.

The session was very informative as it helped students to understand the seriousness of cyber frauds and how our police force (cybercrime department) is tackling these issues.

The session ended by Tr. Sandra thanking Police Inspector Andhare and his team for guiding our students on cybercrime issues.

Mrs Annie Derin and Mrs Dorothy Fernandes