Page 2 - Cybercrimes

Cyber fraud cases in India surged 4-fold in FY24, causing $20 mn in losses

Cyber literacy has lagged, leaving people vulnerable to fraud, with scammers impersonating officials or using AI to dupe unsuspecting people online

India secures repatriation of 283 nationals from Myanmar lured by fake jobs

These nationals were made to indulge in cybercrime and engage in other fraudulent activities in scam centres operating in regions along the Myanmar-Thailand border

Indian entities may lose Rs 20,000 cr to cybercrimes in 2025: CloudSEK

Indian entities are expected to lose Rs 20,000 crore due to cyber crimes this year, cyber security intelligence firm CloudSEK said in a report. The company claims to have done a detailed analysis of 200 companies across sectors, over 5,000 domain takedowns, data of about 16,000 brand abuse, official data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) documenting nationwide cybercrime patterns and financial impacts etc for artificial intelligence based projection. "The biggest revelation from our research is the sheer scale of financial losses of over Rs 20,000 crore due to cybercrime, of which Rs 9,000 crore is due to brand name abuse alone. The fact that brand abuse is implicated in nearly one-third of all cybercrime incidents and a staggering 70 per cent of high-value scams is a wake-up call for India," Pavan Karthick M, Threat Intelligence Researcher at CloudSEK said. Cybercrime complaints are expected to exceed 25 lakh, with 5 lakh explicitly mentioning brand ...

Why are Indians trapped in Myanmar's Myawaddy region in cybercrime scams?

Hundreds of Indians trapped in Myanmar's Myawaddy region were lured by fake job offers and forced into cybercrime; a crackdown by Thailand, Myanmar, and China aims to dismantle these scam hubs

Delhi cyberfrauds siphoned Rs 4,900 cr cyber crime money abroad: ED

The Enforcement Directorate Thursday said two Delhi-based "cyber criminals" siphoned off more than Rs 4,900 crore abroad by "misusing" special economic zone (SEZ) facilities. The two accused -- Punit Kumar alias Puneet Maheshwari alias John, a resident of Moti Nagar area, and Ashish Kakkar alias Pablo, a resident of Greater Kailash -- were arrested by the federal agency last year as part of this investigation. On January 17, ED in a statement said a provisional order was issued to attach nine residential flats in Delhi and a parcel of agricultural land in Rewari, Haryana, in the name of the two people and their families. The ED said it got on to the case after taking cognisance of multiple police FIRs registered across the country against people involved in crimes like online gaming fraud, multi-level marketing schemes and investment scams, including part-time job frauds, online shopping and fake loans disbursal frauds through mobile apps. These "scams" were perpetrated through ...

Trump pardons dark web marketplace 'Silk Road' creator: Who is Ross Ulbricht?

In 2011, Ulbricht launched 'Silk Road', a darknet marketplace he envisioned as a freewheeling, anonymous platform for trade, powered by cryptocurrency

India, US sign agreement for cooperation in cybercrime investigations

India and the US have inked an agreement to enhance cooperation in cybercrime investigations, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The signing of the pact comes days before the Biden administration hands over charge to the Trump administration. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Washington DC on Friday by Indian Ambassador Vinay Kwatra and Acting US Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristie Canegallo, the MEA said. It said the agreement allows the respective agencies of the two countries to step up the level of cooperation and training with respect to the use of cyber threat intelligence and digital forensics in criminal investigations. From India, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) of the Home Ministry is responsible for the execution of the MoU. On the US side, the DHS and its constituent agencies US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations Cyber Crimes Center are tasked with implementing the

SC issues notice to Centre on PIL over rising cybercrimes, spam calls

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Centre on a PIL alleging an "enormous rise" in cyber crimes and "nuisance" of unsolicited calls in the country. Observing government agencies were doing their bit, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar issued a notice to the Department of Telecommunications. "Yes, we understand the problem is there. Let the Centre respond, the bench said, noting the PIL of one Gowrishankar from Bengaluru. The plea sought a direction to telecom network operators to implement the calling name presentation service (CNAP). The service, which facilitates identification of the caller's name and is usually displayed in the caller ID section of the phone, may help recipients to make informed decisions about calls and combat spam calls.

Pig butchering scam targeting jobless youth, housewives, says MHA report

A new cyber fraud known as "pig butchering scam" or "investment scam" has emerged, targeting unemployed youths, housewives, students, and needy people who are made to lose large sums of money daily, according to the latest annual report of the Union home ministry. The report said that cybercriminals have also been using Google services platforms to initiate these crimes. "Google Advertisement platform provides a convenient facility for targeted advertisement from across the border. This scam, known as 'Pig Butchering Scam' or 'Investment Scam' is a global phenomenon and involves large-scale money laundering and even cyber slavery," it said. The pig butchering scam, which is believed to have started in China in 2016, targets gullible individuals with whom cyber criminals build trust over time, ultimately convincing them to invest in cryptocurrency or some other lucrative scheme when their money is stolen. The analogy to pig butchering comes from the fattening of swine before their ..

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan faces 1 mn monthly cyber attacks from China

The Legislative Yuan, is the highest legislative organ,which exercises legislative power on behalf of the people

DoT asks telcos to play cybercrime awareness caller tune 8-10 times daily

The telecom department has ordered operators to play cyber crime awareness caller tune 8-10 times per day to telephone subscribers for three months. According to the order copy sent to the telecom operators, the caller tunes will be provided by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) -- a cyber crime wing under the Home Ministry. "In order to make the public aware about cybercrime through the caller tune campaign, it has been decided to play caller tune audios through pre-call announcement/ring back tone arrangement, which will be provided to TSPs by nodal officers of I4C. Caller tunes to a subscriber may be played about 8-10 times a day," the order dated December 18 said. The order asked telecom service providers (TSPs) to immediately take action on the order. "Different caller tunes related to cybercrime will be provided on a weekly basis for a period of three months," the order said. There has been a rise in the incidence of financial fraud through new scams like digita

At least 20% cybercrimes involve dark web usage by attackers: Report

At least 20 per cent of cybercrimes in India involve attackers using dark web, according to a report by cyber security firm Lisianthus. The dark web is a platform on the internet that can be accessed using special tools. It is usually very difficult to trace the identity and location of a dark web user. "At least 20 per cent of cybercrimes in India involve the usage of the dark web by online attackers," the study conducted by Lisianthus Tech said. The attackers used the dark web for cybercrimes like data breaches, hacking, phishing, ransomware, identity theft, sale and purchase of banned products like narcotics and weapons. The study is based on a detailed analysis of several cases of cybercrime reported across the country, said Khushhal Kaushik, founder and CEO of Lisianthus Tech. The study was conducted on a sampling basis over a period of two months which concluded last week, he said. "Study was completed using several samples of crime data taken from state police, National Cr

Digital arrest scam: IIT Bombay student loses Rs 7.29 lakh to scammers

Scammers posed as Trai officials and used intimidation tactics to defraud the 25-year-old IIT Bombay student

You are under 'digital arrest': All about Rs 4 crore fraud in Mumbai

For over a month, a housewife from Mumbai was placed under "digital custody" and defrauded of Rs 3.8 crore by scammers posing as law enforcement officers looking into a false money laundering case

BS BFSI Summit: Indian data not yet ready for AI decade, say CTOs

As technology continues to advance, CTOs face the constant pressure of adopting cutting-edge solutions while adhering to stringent industry standards and safeguarding sensitive customer data

At the BS BFSI Summit, experts stress KYC, and tech to curb digital fraud

Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2024: Industry leaders discuss KYC, anti-fraud tech, and user education as essential defences against rising digital financial crime

Canada names India in cyberthreat list; another attempt to attack, says MEA

Canada has for the first time named India in a list of cyberthreat adversaries, suggesting that state-sponsored actors could be spying against it. Amid an ongoing diplomatic row, India is named fifth after China, Russia, Iran and North Korea in the National Cyber Threat Assessment 2025-2026 (NCTA 2025-2026) report. We assess that Indian state-sponsored cyber threat actors likely conduct cyber threat activity against Government of Canada networks for the purpose of espionage, the report said. The development comes as the bilateral relationship has gone south since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a year ago that Canada had credible evidence that agents of the Indian government were involved in the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June 2023, a charge dismissed as absurd by India. The NCTA 2025-2026 that highlights the cyber threats facing individuals and organisations in Canada was released on October 30 by the Canadian Centre for Cyber .

MHA warns of cybercriminals using 'mule' accounts for money laundering

The Union Home Ministry has issued an alert against illegal payment gateways created by transnational gangs of cybercriminals using mule bank accounts and are being used for facilitating money laundering, officials said on Monday. The gateways are created by transnational cybercriminals who provide money laundering services using accounts of shell companies and individuals, exploiting the bulk payout facility provided by banks, it said. Police in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh recently conducted nationwide raids which showed that cybercriminals have set up illegal digital payment gateways using rented bank accounts for laundering the proceeds of different crimes. "Some of the payment gateways identified during the operation are PeacePay, RTX Pay, PoccoPay, RPPay etc. These gateways are learnt to be providing money laundering as a service and are operated by foreign nationals," a government statement said. When information gathered by the state police was analysed by the Indian Cybercri

Quad nations to continue 'Quad Cyber Challenge' for good cyber ecosystem

India, the US, Australia and Japan have announced the continuation of 'Quad Cyber Challenge' with an aim to strengthen responsible cyber ecosystems, promote public resources, and raise cybersecurity awareness. The theme of this year's challenge is promoting cybersecurity education and building a strong workforce, the Quad countries said in a joint statement. In February 2023, the United States, together with its Quad partners Australia, India, and Japan, launched the 'Quad Cyber Challenge' to promote responsible cyber habits across their nations, regions, and beyond. In October with the objective of securing India's cyberspace, the National Cyber Security Coordinator of India will deliver a message on Cyber Swachhta Abhiyaan India's Cyber Hygiene Campaign to the student community highlighting the importance of cyber security as part of outreach during Cyber Security Awareness Month, the joint statement said. Eminent cyber security experts will undertake awareness workshops for ...

No one can arrest you through video calls: Digital arrest fraud on the rise

An employee of the Department of Atomic Energy was the victim of a digital arrest scam, losing Rs. 71 lakh to fraudsters