Cyber Crime

Sanchar Saathi decoded: Why the gov wants it installed on your phone

DoT's directive requires the app to be visible and functional on first use, even as the minister stresses that activation remains optional.

India to bring back 500 nationals from Thailand after Myanmar scam raids

India is planning to sending a special aircraft to Thailand to repatriate the group, most of whom were victims of the scam operations based in Myanmar's KK Park complex

Scammers are watching! Think before sharing your screen on WhatsApp

A new scam is tricking WhatsApp users into screen sharing, giving fraudsters access to bank accounts and wallets. OneCard issues an urgent advisory

Gujarat cops bust cyber crime racket; transactions worth Rs 1,455 cr found

International cyber criminals routed Rs 1,455 crore in six months using 89 bank accounts provided to them on commission basis by three men from Surat in Gujarat, police officials said on Friday. This was found out after Kirat Jadwani, Meet Khokhar and Mayur Italia were arrested on May 28 for cheating and forgery after the recovery of 21 debit cards, 30 cheque books and six PAN cards issued to different individuals, Udhna police station inspector SN Desai said. They were arrested after one of their associates was caught with PAN cards and stamps of various firms during a routine vehicle check in Udhna, he said. "We found the trio had opened 165 bank accounts using documents of people who had applied for personal loans. They gave access to these accounts to cyber criminals for crimes such as digital arrest, hawala transfer, task fraud, betting, stock market fraud, online cheating and OTP fraud," said Desai. The three came in contact with cyber criminals based in Cuba, Thailand and ..

Karnataka HC asks State to set up cybercrime bureau to fight new age crimes

It also ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate a major cyber espionage case involving theft of sensitive drone technology

Mumbai woman loses Rs 20 cr in digital arrest scam; police probe conspiracy

Officials said that both accused are part of an international fraud gang and were directly involved in planning and carrying out the crime

Lok Sabha MP's secy loses over Rs 1L after calling fake helpline number

According to the police, the victim was attempting to book a train ticket from Chennai to Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, through a mobile application

Maha Cyber Cell sends 2nd summons to Samay Raina in India's Got Latent row

This move comes after Raina failed to appear for a scheduled statement recording session on February 18

Pvt firm owner duped of Rs 7.5 c in SIM swap fraud, cops recover Rs 4.65 cr

Police have managed to freeze a sum of Rs 4.65 crore out of Rs 7.5 crore lost by the Mumbai-based owner of a private company in a SIM swap cyber fraud, officials said. In the SIM swap fraud, a form of identity theft, scammers trick the network provider into linking the mobile phone number of their target to a SIM card they have in possession and access to OTPs sent by the bank to the genuine person. It is a form of account takeover where cyber crooks gain access to a victim's phone number. This allows them to assume control over the victim's mobile identity, enabling unauthorised access to personal online accounts linked to the number. The private firm owner was duped for Rs 7.5 crore by cyber fraudsters in suburban Kandivali on Monday, officials said on Tuesday. The scamsters got the access of the company's bank account with the help of SIM swipe and made multiple unauthorised transactions, an official said, adding the money was then transferred to various bank accounts in a span

Cybercrime hotlines in Bengaluru remain unreachable amid rising cases

The IT hub of India faces a strange kind of predicament. Despite increasing cybercrimes in Bengaluru, almost all the hotlines meant for reporting them are either switched off or just keep ringing. Incidentally, according to the Bengaluru City Police website, India's first Cyber Crime Police Station was started in CID, Bengaluru way back in 2001. Then in 2017, according to the information provided in its website, to tackle the growing number of cybercrimes, another cybercrime police station came up in the premises of the Police Commissioner's office in Bengaluru. Eventually, the city got eight such police stations nine, if we include the Bengaluru Rural as well to register and investigate cases related to not only cybercrimes, but also economic and narcotic offences. They are called CEN (Cybercrimes, Economic and Narcotics Offences) Police Stations. All these police stations, in theory, can be accessed round the clock via their hotline. But when PTI called at different times, ove

Mumbai man loses Rs 10 lakh in task completion scam: Here's how it works

The victim was offered a part-time job. Eventually, he was asked to pay "fees" under the guise of earning lucrative returns, which never materialised

NIA files charge sheet against trafficking gang sending Indians to Laos

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against members of a human trafficking gang that was sending Indians to Laos to work in cyber crime sweatshops run by Chinese scammers targeting European and American citizens, officials said on Thursday. The agency filed its charge sheet before a special court on Wednesday against gang members Manjoor Alam alias Guddu, Sahil, Ashish alias Akhil, Pawan Yadav alias Afzal alias Afroz, along with the key conspirator, Kamran Haider alias Zaidi. "NIA investigations have revealed that all five were involved in trafficking vulnerable Indian youth to the Golden Triangle Region in Lao PDR where they were forced to commit cyber scams targeting European and American citizens. They operated through the consultancy firm, Ali International Services, which functioned as a front for human trafficking," an NIA spokesperson said in a statement. According to the agency's investigation, Zaidi facilitated the entire operation and extorted

Centre to train 5,000 Cyber Commandos over next 5 years: Amit Shah

Under the 'Cyber Commandos' program, the Centre will establish a specialised unit of trained 'Cyber Commandos' across States and Union territories

Philippine authorities detain over 160 people over cybercrime operation

Philippine authorities raided a suspected illegal online gaming and cyberscam complex in a central province and took into custody more than 160 people mostly Chinese and Indonesians who were committing internet-based crimes, officials said Sunday. The raid on Saturday by more than 100 government agents, backed by military intelligence, on a resort compound in Lapu-Lapu city was part of an ongoing crackdown after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a ban in July on widespread and mostly Chinese-run online gaming operations that cater mostly to clients in China, where illegal gambling is banned. Marcos said then that the massive illegal gambling operations have ignored Philippine laws with largescale violations of regulations and also committed other crimes, including financial scams, human trafficking, torture, kidnappings and murder. The raid at the Tourist Garden Resort, which has 10 buildings with swimming pools, karaoke bars and restaurants, came after the Indonesian Embas

'Can you send Rs 500?': Man poses as CJI DY Chandrachud; SC files complaint

The Supreme Court filed a cybercrime complaint against a scammer who posed as CJI DY Chandrachud and asked money for a cab fare

As UN targets cybercrime, privacy groups say human rights to be violated

A global deal on the criminal use of computer technology is moving ahead despite worries it will let governments around the world violate human rights by probing electronic communications and bypassing privacy safeguards. Nearly 200 nations approved the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime on Thursday afternoon at a special committee meeting that capped months of complicated negotiations. The treaty expected to win General Assembly approval within months creates a framework for nations to cooperate against internet-related crimes including the illegal access and interception of computer information; electronic eavesdropping and online child sex abuse. Like outer space or even some parts of the deep sea, cyberspace is a relatively new area for regular human activity and many governments and businesses are rushing to keep up. The convention expected at the General Assembly later this year began with a Russian initiative several years ago and critics said they can see those .

K'taka govt launches cybersecurity policy, outflow of Rs 103 cr for 5 years

The report stated that Rs 23.74 crore of the total budget would go towards providing incentives and concessions

India ranks third globally for phishing attacks after US, UK: Report

India ranked as the third-largest country globally for phishing attacks after the US and UK, with its technology sector facing nearly 33 per cent of all such strikes, marking it as the most targeted industry, according to a report. The report by cybersecurity firm Zscaler showed a 60 per cent rise in global phishing attacks over the past year. The ThreatLabz 2024 Phishing Report gathered insights from 2 billion blocked phishing transactions between January and December 2023. "In 2023, India ranked as the third-largest country globally for phishing attacks, following behind the US and UK. The technology industry in India faced nearly 33 per cent of all phishing attacks, marking it as the most targeted sector among industries," the report said. The finance and insurance sector has become the prime target for cyber attackers and witnessed the highest number of phishing attempts in 2023, it added. "The finance and insurance sector experienced both the highest number of phishing attemp

Gurugram cops nab 4 cyber criminals for defrauding people of over Rs 4.5 cr

The Gurugram cyber police have arrested four fraudsters for allegedly duping hundreds of people across the country of over Rs 4.5 crore, officials said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber) Siddhant Jain said four mobile phones and Rs 32000 in cash were recovered from the accused. He added that after examining these SIM cards and reviewing the data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C), it was found that the fraud of about Rs 4.5 crore has been committed by these accused across the country. The accused have been identified as Nitish, resident of Chomu in Rajasthan; Monu from Bhonkarka village; Ravikant from Samastipur, Bihar; and Vikas Kumar from Vaishali district, Bihar, police said. "During the police interrogation, it was revealed that these accused committed fraud by making phone calls to people and cheating them in the name of transferring money online, investing in share market, offering online loans and getting money transferred by pretending to be experts,"

Singapore attracts cyber espionage as host of high-profile global events

Cyberespionage is taking place all over the world and Singapore -- being one of the hubs for hosting high-profile trade exhibitions and conferences -- "inevitably" attracts intelligence operations, a report said on Friday. "Cyberespionage is happening all over the world because we are more connected than ever before," said Dr Alan Chong, senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Chong's comments came after Russian media earlier this month leaked a recording of a German military phone call that Berlin said was due to a participant dialling in through an "unauthorised connection" from a Singapore hotel during the February Singapore Airshow. "In terms of the geopolitical location of Singapore, to me it's no surprise. Since the Cold War, long before the digital age, we were already a base of operations for both the Communist and the Western powers," Channel News Asia quoted Chong as saying. Intelligence operations around the world will happen more frequently as