Correcting a cyber-fraud advisory before it goes to the press
A district police unit is issuing a public advisory on fake 'digital arrest' calls, in which fraudsters pose as police or courier officials, keep a video call running for hours and demand money. The Hindi draft prepared by a constable contains these three sentences: (i) 'साइबर ठग अपराधीयों द्वारा नकली पुलिस अधिकारी बनकर वीडियो कॉल किया जाता है।' (ii) 'पुलिस द्वारा कभी भी वीडियो कॉल पर पैसों की मांग नहीं किया जाता।' (iii) 'यदि आपके साथ ठगी होती है तो तुरंत 1930 पर संपर्क करे और शिकायत दर्ज कराये।' The English version prepared separately by the same office reads: 'Victims should dial 1903 immediately and report the matter to the local police station. You must not believe anyone who calls you.' The advisory is to be released to newspapers and read out on a local radio station the same evening, and the Superintendent wants a single verified Hindi-and-English text.
1. Correct the three Hindi sentences and explain each error you are correcting.
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(i) Original: 'साइबर ठग अपराधीयों द्वारा नकली पुलिस अधिकारी बनकर वीडियो कॉल किया जाता है।' Errors: spelling of 'अपराधीयों' (should be 'अपराधियों'); the sentence mixes an active subject ('साइबर ठग') with a passive agent ('द्वारा') so it has no grammatical subject it can agree with; and 'कॉल' is feminine, so the participle must be 'की जाती', not 'किया जाता'. Corrected: 'साइबर ठग नकली पुलिस अधिकारी बनकर वीडियो कॉल करते हैं।'
(ii) Original: 'पुलिस द्वारा कभी भी वीडियो कॉल पर पैसों की मांग नहीं किया जाता।' Errors: agreement - 'मांग' is feminine, so 'किया जाता' must be 'की जाती'; and the idiom is 'पैसे की मांग', not 'पैसों की मांग'. Corrected: 'पुलिस कभी भी वीडियो कॉल पर पैसे की मांग नहीं करती।'
(iii) Original: 'यदि आपके साथ ठगी होती है तो तुरंत 1930 पर संपर्क करे और शिकायत दर्ज कराये।' Errors: 'करे' and 'कराये' are the singular familiar imperative used for a public notice, which is impolite and non-standard; the polite plural 'करें' and 'कराएँ' are required. 'होती है' describes a habitual event, while a possible future fraud needs 'हो जाए'. Corrected: 'यदि आपके साथ ठगी हो जाए तो तुरंत 1930 पर संपर्क करें और शिकायत दर्ज कराएँ।'
2. The Hindi and English drafts do not agree on one detail. Identify it, state why it matters, and say what should be done before release.
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The discrepancy. The Hindi text gives the helpline number as 1930; the English text gives 1903. Two published versions of the same advisory cannot both be right.
Why it matters. 1930 is the national cyber-fraud helpline number on which a victim's report is logged and, where money has moved, a request to freeze the beneficiary account can be raised quickly. A wrong digit sends a frightened victim to a number that is either dead or, worse, one that a fraudster has purchased - turning a public advisory into a fresh fraud channel. The damage is not clerical: the advisory's whole purpose is to get the victim to report within the golden hours, and every misdirected call buys the fraudster time to move the money.
Which is correct. 1930 is the number to be printed; the officer must verify it against the unit's own standing instruction or the district cyber cell, not against memory.
What to do before release.
- One master text, checked line by line, with the number verified in writing by the cyber cell and initialled by the officer who checked it.
- Release both language versions simultaneously, and brief the radio announcer from the corrected text, since the announcer will read the number aloud.
- Add one plain sentence on what the caller should keep ready: transaction details, the suspect number, and screenshots.
- Issue an errata at once if the wrong number has already gone out, and inform the cyber cell so calls to the wrong number are watched.
3. Rewrite the English version in the register appropriate for an official public advisory, and state the two drafting principles you applied.
Read the worked answer
Rewritten text. 'PUBLIC ADVISORY - CYBER FRAUD THROUGH FAKE VIDEO CALLS Citizens are advised that fraudsters are posing as police, customs and courier officials, making video calls, and demanding money to close a supposed case. The police never demand money over a video call or a phone call, and no citizen is ever 'digitally arrested'. If you receive such a call: disconnect it; do not share bank details, OTP or Aadhaar; do not transfer any money. If you have been defrauded, report at once on the national cyber-fraud helpline 1930 and at cybercrime.gov.in, and inform the nearest police station. Delay helps the fraudster move the money.'
Principles applied.
- Precision over generality. 'You must not believe anyone who calls you' is unworkable - it forbids all calls and gives no usable test. A usable test is a factual statement: the police never demand money over a call, so any such call is fraudulent. Government drafting must tell the reader what to do, not merely what to think.
- Official passive register with active instructions. The advisory portion uses 'Citizens are advised that', which is the standard impersonal form for public notices, but the action portion switches to imperatives ('disconnect it', 'do not share'), because a warning that is not an instruction is ignored under stress. Also note that the short numbered action lines make the text readable on radio and in a two-column newspaper notice, which was the stated purpose of the release.