Protect your password and OTP in the same manner you protect your house and car keys, do not click on online links that you are not familiar with and do not pass your card to even the waiter while out for dining. Do not trust calls from unknown numbers. If you do get duped, report the incident to both police and the bank. These were part of several tips shared by Kolkata Police detective department on cyber security with around eight dozen worried professors this Sunday, days after TOI reported on how several teachers from Rabindra Bharati University and Calcutta University were duped by cyber fraudsters using call management apps.

The Kolkata Police detective department — led by DC (cyber) Bidisha Kalita — conducted this online interaction with the victims’ colleagues with twin purposes — raising awareness among the professors on possible frauds and reassuring them that Kolkata Police was on its way to nab the fraudsters.

Kalita also shared some comforting news of cops being able to retrieve a portion of the defrauded amount. “We have got bank accounts, associated mobile numbers and some IP addresses. We have been able to block some amount of the defrauded money. Analysis of the bank accounts and mobile numbers is going on and very soon we will be conducting raids,” an detective department officer told the professors. A total of 94 professors — 92 of them from RBU — had joined the awareness programme.