Page 2 - Cyber Fraud

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

Meta unveils new anti-fraud tools across WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook

Meta launches anti-scam tools on WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook, plus digital safety workshops to help senior citizens avoid online fraud across India

South Korea seeks to arrest online scam suspects repatriated from Cambodia

Authorities are seeking to formally arrest most of the 64 South Koreans repatriated from Cambodia for allegedly working for online scam organizations in Cambodia, police said on Monday. The 64 South Koreans were detained in Cambodia over the past several months and were flown to Korea on a charter flight Saturday. Upon arrival in South Korea, they were detained while police investigated whether they voluntarily joined scam organizations in Cambodia or were forced to work there. Online scams, many based in Southeast nations, have risen sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic and produced two sets of victims: the tens of thousands of people who have been forced to work as scammers under the threat of violence, and the targets of their fraud. Monitoring groups say online scams earn international criminal gangs billions of dollars annually. State prosecutors have asked local courts to issue arrest warrants for 58 of the 64 returnees at the request of police, the Korean National Police Agenc

One in three Indians duped by festive scams as AI, deepfake frauds surge

Nearly one in three Indians has faced festive season fraud as AI-powered scams, deepfake celebrity endorsements, and phishing cons target Diwali shoppers

FinMin urges RBI to push rollout of digital fraud detection platform

Once operational, DPIP will collect and analyse data from various sources to identify potential threats and prevent fraudulent activities

Delhi ex-banker duped of ₹23 cr after month-long 'digital arrest' scam

Cyber fraudsters posing as ED and CBI officials duped a retired banker in south Delhi's Gulmohar Park area of Rs 23 crore by allegedly putting him under "digital arrest" for nearly a month, police said on Monday. The accused allegedly told the victim that his Aadhaar card was involved in narcotics trafficking, terror funding and Pulwama terror attack and confined him to his flat under the pretext of investigation, an officer said. "The scammers directed him not to step out of his house and coerced him into transferring his savings to various bank accounts over a span of one month," the officer said. According to the police, the 78-year-old victim stated in his complaint that the ordeal began on August 4 when he received a call from a man claiming to be a Mumbai Police officer. The caller accused him of being linked to a drug trafficking racket. Subsequently, fraudsters impersonating ED and CBI officials also contacted him. "Out of fear, the victim complied with their instructions

North Korean hackers used ChatGPT to help forge deepfake military ID

The group responsible for the attack, which researchers have dubbed Kimsuky, is a suspected North Korea-sponsored cyber-espionage unit previously linked to other spying efforts against South Korea

RBI Deputy Governor Rao flags off a walkathon on cyber security awareness

Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao on Sunday emphasized that banking services, including digital platforms, are designed for public convenience and must be used responsibly. The Bankers' Club, Chandigarh, organized a walkathon on Cyber Security Awareness at Sukhna Lake here on Sunday which was flagged off by Rao. Rao noted that such physical initiatives, alongside RBI's online campaigns, are highly effective in spreading awareness. According to an official statement here, Rao said that while counterfeit currency circulation is minimal, the public must continue to use the "look, touch, and feel" method to verify notes. With growing adoption of digital payments, reliance on cash is declining, ensuring safer and more secure transactions. The walkathon event witnessed enthusiastic participation from bankers across the region, who came together to spread awareness on safe banking and responsible digital practices, the statement said. Rao congratulated the banking ..

Lucknow youths' accounts linked to global cyber fraud, say police

Ajay, a 24-year-old restaurant waiter from the winding lanes of Old Lucknow, thought he had stumbled upon an easy way to make money. A friend introduced him to a crypto trader who offered Rs 20,000 if Ajay allowed the use of his bank account for a day's transaction. Tempted, he agreed. The next morning, lakhs of rupees flowed into his account before these were withdrawn under someone else's instructions, and handed over to strangers. Within weeks, police knocked on Ajay's door. The money, they told him, was part of an elaborate international cyber fraud routed through his account. Shaken, Ajay turned approver, helping investigators identify other account holders and middlemen in a growing nexus that links the narrow lanes of Chowk, Indira Nagar, and Vrindavan Yojna, Sushant Golf City to handlers operating out of Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Police investigations by Crime Branch and Cyber Cell over the past three months reveal that dozens of mule accounts - bank accounts u

COAI seeks SIM-binding rule for WhatsApp, Telegram to curb cyber fraud

Currently, OTT communication apps are bound to users' devices only once, during the service registration process on the device

ED conducts raids at 11 sites in ₹260 crore global cyber fraud case

ED searches 11 locations in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Dehradun in ₹260 crore cyber fraud case involving fake law enforcement calls, tech support scams and crypto laundering via UAE hawala

ED conducts raids under PMLA in NCR, Uttarakhand in global cyber fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted searches at multiple premises in the national capital region and Uttarakhand as part of a money laundering probe linked to a global cyber fraud ring in which Indian and foreign nationals were duped of funds worth crores of rupees, official sources said. The raids are being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and are covering at least 11 premises located in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Dehradun, the sources said. Fraudsters based in these cities were "cheating" Indian and foreign nationals by impersonating as police or investigating agency officers and they "extorted" money by threatening them with consequences of arrest, they said. The fraudsters also impersonated as Microsoft and Amazon technical support service agents to "cheat" the victims. The agency found that the monetary assets of the victims were converted into crypto currencies and transferred to the accused. The accused generated about Rs 260 cror

Best of BS Opinion: India must not shy away from trade negotiations

Our Opinion page today makes a case for more trade talks, note less; benefits for Isro from partnering with Nasa; a sustainable fix for urban congestion; and the need for a framework for digital fraud

Partnerships that companies need for successful digital transformation

Palo Alto's 2025 State of GenAI report provides an in-depth look into how enterprises are adopting GenAI and where they remain most vulnerable

Govt asks banks to close inactive accounts opened under PM Jan-Dhan Yojana

The concern arises from the increasing misuse of some Jan Dhan accounts by fraudsters as "mule accounts" to carry out cyber fraud

Number of bank frauds increased threefold in FY25, but amount dipped

The number of frauds related to credit/debit cards and internet banking rose over five times in FY25

Senior citizen loses Rs 1.15 cr in cyber scam: Here's how to detect fraud

Fraudsters posing as Income Tax officials dupe Mumbai woman by promising refunds. Know how to detect such false claims

RBI asks banks to integrate DoT's fraud risk tool to curb cyber crimes

The Reserve Bank of India has advised all banks to integrate the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator tool developed by the Department of Telecom to curb online fraudulent transactions, an official statement said on Wednesday. Banks and financial institutions can use the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) in real time, which classifies mobile numbers based on their association with medium, high or very high risk of financial fraud. The data is collected from various sources, including reporting on the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C's) National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), DoT's Chakshu platform, and Intelligence shared by banks and financial institutions. "The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) welcomes the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) advisory issued on June 30, 2025, directing all scheduled commercial banks, small finance banks, payments banks, and co-operative banks to integrate the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) developed by DoT into their systems," th

Elderly woman in Mumbai duped of ₹1.15 cr by cyber fraudsters over 6 years

A 70-year-old woman from central Mumbai lost about Rs 1.15 crore to cyber scamsters, who posed as Income Tax (I-T) officials, over six years, police said on Wednesday. The incident came to light on Monday after the septuagenarian, a resident of the Worli area, filed a complaint with the Dadar police. The victim first received a call in May 2019 from a woman who claimed to be an I-T official and told her that the department wanted to return her deceased husband's money, the police said. The complainant was asked to clear "pending" taxes and various penalties accrued against her husband's name to get back his money, the official said. Believing the caller, the woman started depositing money into the accounts provided by the fraudsters, he said. Over six years, the complainant shelled out over Rs 1.15 crore in 50 transactions, but never received any money from the I-T department, he said. The woman recently shared the episode with her relatives, who told her that she was being conne

CBI busts 850,000 mule accounts in 700 bank branches across five states

The CBI has detected 8.50 lakh mule bank accounts in over 700 branches nationwide which are being used by cyber criminals to launder proceeds from scams involving digital theft, impersonation, fraudulent investments, and UPI-based frauds, an enquiry by the agency has found. The central agency's crackdown on these mule accounts, opened using fake IDs for the limited use of siphoning victims' money, came through a coordinated search operation recently at 42 locations in Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh during which nine suspects were taken into custody, officials said Thursday. Those taken into custody include alleged middlemen, agents, aggregators, account holders, and banking correspondents, all believed to be instrumental in orchestrating and facilitating the opening of these fictitious accounts, they said. A mule account opened in the name of an individual who may or may not be aware that the account is used to launder illicit money. The CBI has found that