533 People Contacted the Cyprus Internet Safety Hotline

Between July 1 and September 30, a total of 533 people reached out to Cyprus' 1480 hotline, a service offering advice and support on safe, responsible, and ethical use of the internet and digital technologies.

According to the published report, 78.6% of the calls were related to services provided by the hotline, with 21.4% seeking information on benefits offered by the Ministry of Labor.

Of all the calls, 54.6% were made by women, with the remainder from men.

The vast majority of callers (99.1%) were adults, while the rest were minors seeking help for personal internet-related issues, such as cyberbullying.

Additionally, only 1.2% of the calls from adults came from parents, guardians, or educators, seeking advice about the challenges teenagers face online.

Most inquiries—79.2%—were about cybercrimes, including privacy breaches, hacking, financial fraud, or identity theft through social media or email.

Another 10.5% of the calls were for technical support, 3.3% concerned cases of "sextortion," and 3.3% were related to cyberbullying.

There were also reports of fraudulent WhatsApp calls, where scammers impersonated police officers and requested personal information, such as ID documents.

The service is free and anonymous, available to anyone by calling 1480, sending an email to [email protected], or using the online form or chat on the website cybersafety.cy.