Kolkata Police

Kolkata, May 03: Kolkata Police has cleverly used a meme to educate the city’s residents about online fraud. The Twitter account of the city police posted a meme featuring the “Professor” character from the popular Spanish TV series, Money Heist.

The meme depicted the Professor asking for an OTP sent to a phone, with cricketers Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli holding their pointer fingers to their lips, warning people not to divulge the OTP. The meme aimed to save Kolkatans from online fraud, which has been increasing in the city.

Money Heist became one of the most-watched TV series ever after landing on the streaming platform Netflix. The Professor is the heist’s mastermind, guiding his gang over the phone. In the Ekana stadium in Lucknow, Kohli, a Royal Challengers star, reprised the gesture of Gambhir, the mentor of the Lucknow Super Giants team, by silencing the crowd.

Kolkata Police has placed a particular focus on spreading awareness against fraud, as an increasing number of Kolkatans are being duped online. Impersonation of bank officials, sharing of OTP, misuse of e-commerce platforms, clicking on unknown links, and luring people with false credit points are among the most common types of online fraud.

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Awareness campaigns by Kolkata police, online or offline, have been creative, with past campaigns including a 2013 advertising campaign on road safety rules featuring The Beatles’ iconic 1969 Abbey Road album cover, and a 2018 meme that featured Lionel Messi’s moment of despair after missing a penalty in a World Cup match against Iceland.

The meme posted by Kolkata Police has attracted over 180 comments and 3,000 likes on Facebook. The comments included praise for the police’s creativity in making memes and several jokes about the pressure of being a meme maker while working for the police.