So my grandmother lost ₹20,000 to a cyber scam. She was panicking, so I did the right thing—I called 1930, the so-called cyber crime helpline. For the last three months, every time I call someone, I’ve been hearing the same annoying caller tune urging people to report cyber crimes. Turns out, that helpline is completely useless.
I’m in Bangalore, and I tried at least 20 times throughout the day—calls wouldn’t connect. Finally, at 10 PM, one goes through. The operator asks me to speak in Kannada. I said I don’t know Kannada, and she rudely cuts the call. I call again, same thing.
So I switch to Tamil, and this time, the guy answers two questions, then puts me on hold for 10 minutes before cutting the call. Frustrated, I gave up for the night.
Then, the real nightmare began.
The next day, starting at 7 AM, I started getting calls from fake “control room police” asking for my Aadhaar, card details, etc. The moment I refused, they abused me and cut the call. This happened at least 10 times!
So let me get this straight—
1. 1930 barely works.
2. Operators are rude and useless.
3. Reporting a scam got me even more scam calls, this time from fake police!
If this is the system, what’s the point of forcing that “report cyber crime” caller tune on us? I’m more worried about frauds using police names now than the ₹20K lost.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? What’s the best way to actually get help?