Bengaluru: Soap operas are the all time favourites of women and tapping on the potential that these ‘Saas-Bahu’ serials to put across a message to women, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is contemplating to use the Soap plots to create awareness among middle and lower middle class women about cyber crime.

With the cyber crime division receiving more than 50 complaints of online fraud in 2016, majority of which saw women as targets, the CID may use the television serials to inform the women about how the cyber criminals have been targeting women.

It is said that the department has made a list of Kannada serials with the highest Television Rating Point (TRP) and the production houses of these serials will be asked to make episodes related to cyber crime so as to inform gullible women about how they can be trapped in virtual world.

The Cyber Crime department sources say that cyber criminals study their target well and in case of women they trap their target with plush job offers or well-settled grooms- two areas that most women are interested in.

Women of ages 26 to 35, who are either single or separated, are prime targets.

It is said that there are several cases where the target realises that she has been duped only when she has already lost a hefty sum.

In a specific case, a criminal who had gained confidence of a woman in just 20 days managed to get over Rs 5.5 lac from the target.

The CID is hopeful that the innovative method of using electronic media to spread awareness among women will be a great success.