Scam

AI-based financial scams: Set a family code word for emergency requests

Pause and verify the caller's identity independently before transferring funds

₹69 crore vanished: The affordable housing project that never delivered

What began as a promise of affordable homes under a government scheme has now turned into a major money-laundering case.

42 lakh fake users, ₹1,400 cr deal: How a startup sale turned into a major US fraud case

A celebrated startup founder. A $175 million acquisition. And millions of users that allegedly never existed. This is the story of how one deal meant to change student finance in the US

Cambodia extradites alleged kingpin Chen Zhi to China over global scam

Cambodia's government announced Wednesday that it has arrested and extradited to China a prominent tycoon who allegedly led a huge online scam operation and was wanted by US authorities on related criminal charges. A press release from Cambodia's Interior Ministry said Chen Zhi and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited Tuesday following months of investigation and at the request of Chinese authorities. Chen, a Chinese native with dual nationality, had his Cambodian citizenship revoked in December, it said. Chen, chairman of Cambodia's Prince Holding Group, was accused in October by the US Treasury Department and the UK Foreign Office of heading a transnational criminal network that defrauded victims worldwide and exploited trafficked workers. Scam centres have proliferated across Southeast Asia, swindling money from victims by convincing them to join bogus investment schemes. According to estimates from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, scam victims worldwide lost

Cyber alert: How scammers are hijacking your calls and what you must do

A new cyber fraud is quietly spreading across India. Scammers are misusing a simple mobile phone feature to intercept bank OTPs, security alerts, and verification calls,

₹200 crore forex, gold trading scam busted; 7 held in Maharashtra

Police in Maharashtra have unearthed a massive international syndicate that defrauded hundreds of people of more than Rs 200 crore by luring them into online forex and gold trading schemes, officials said on Tuesday. Seven persons, linked to more than 50 criminal cases lodged across several states in India, have so far been arrested in Maharashtra, with the police suspecting the masterminds were operating the racket from outside the country, they said. The fraudsters targeted victims by building trust through matrimonial websites and social media platforms before inducing them to invest in fraudulent schemes, Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar Police Commissioner Niket Kaushik said at a press conference. The breakthrough came on November 12, 2025, when a police team, while probing a complaint of fraud, conducted a raid at the Shivsai Residency Lodge and Boarding on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, he said. Initially, five individuals were apprehended for conspiring to receive illegal funds ..

ED files final chargesheet naming 59 more in Chhattisgarh liquor scam case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a final prosecution complaint in the alleged liquor scam case in Chhattisgarh, naming 59 people, taking the total number of accused in the money laundering case to 81. The final prosecution complaint was filed before the PMLA court here, complying with the Supreme Court's directions, the ED's counsel, Saurabh Kumar Pande, told PTI. Earlier, 22 persons were named as accused in the case, and several of them were arrested. After completing the investigation related to those accused, prosecution complaints were filed against them in the past, he said. The final prosecution complaint has now been filed against 59 more persons against whom investigation has been completed, Pande said. The 59 include Soumya Chaurasia, the then deputy secretary at the Chief Minister's office, former IAS officer Niranjan Das, liquor licence holders, distributors and excise department officials, he said. The prosecution's complaint summary runs into 315 pages

SC protects Shreyas Talpade, Alok Nath from arrest in cheating case

The Supreme Court on Monday protected actors Shreyas Talpade and Alok Nath from arrest till investigation concludes in a case of cheating and breach of trust against a society. During the hearing before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan, Talpade's counsel said the actor was called as a guest celebrity in the annual event of the company. "I am not supposed to know. I never earned any money," the lawyer said. Nath's lawyer submitted that the actor has not attended any function and his photo has been used 10 years. "If a top actor or a cricketer is giving his advertisement or appearing as a brand ambassador for corporate company which goes into liquidation or there are criminal cases against the company will it also go against the cricketer or actor? "We dispose of this writ petition (filed by Talpade) by continuing the interim order of protection from arrest granted by us until the investigation into the offences against the petitioner is complete," the bench said.

Mass Rescue From Job Rackets: Over 6,700 Indians brought back from Southeast Asia

Over 6,700 Indians have been rescued from fake job and cyber-fraud rackets operating across Southeast Asia.

Indian man gets 90 months in US prison for multimillion-dollar scam

A 38-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to 90 months in federal prison for his role in an "imposter scam" that defrauded 11 victims, including elderly people in five US states, according to an official statement. Ligneshkumar H. Patel pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and financial institution fraud and two counts of wire fraud. The judge ordered him to pay more than USD 2 million in restitution, the Department of Justice said in a statement on Wednesday. "Imposter scams are international conspiracies often using US-based money mules to meet victims in person to take their money, said US Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft. The US Attorney's Office prosecutes these fraudsters aggressively, and anyone who targets elderly victims will face certain justice." According to court documents, Patel drove to the residences of at least 11 elderly victims in five states to steal their assets totalling USD 2,231,216.99. Patel worked within a major conspiracy that

Delhi HC allows ED to attach illegal betting money in ₹2,400 crore scam

The court issued the order while dismissing petitions challenging the ED's provisional attachment orders issued more than a decade ago in an alleged multi-crore international cricket betting scam

Land-for-job scam: Court defers framing of charges against Lalu to Dec 4

A Delhi court on Monday deferred pronouncement of its order to December 4 on framing of charges in the alleged land-for-job case involving RJD chief and former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his family members, and several others. Special CBI Judge Vishal Gogne was hearing the case filed by the agency against Lalu Yadav and others over their alleged involvement in the case. The matter will now be taken up on December 4, when the court is expected to pronounce its decision on whether there is sufficient evidence to frame charges. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed chargesheets against Lalu Yadav, his wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, their son Tejashwi Yadav and others in connection with the alleged scam. The prosecution has alleged appointments in Group-D category of West Central Zone of the Railways based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, made during Lalu Yadav's tenure as railway minister from 2004 to 2009, in return for land parcels gifted or ...

Telcos start trials for CNAP feature in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh

The feature is being introduced to help curb spam, fraud, and scam calls, as well as reduce incidents of impersonation where callers pretend to represent other people or organisations

India repatriates 270 citizens who fled from Myanmar scam hub to Thailand

India on Thursday repatriated 270 of its nationals from Thailand in two military transport aircraft, days after they fled to Thai border town of Mae Sot from a notorious scam centre in Myanmar following a crackdown on it. Around 500 Indian nationals were among 1,500 people from 28 countries who crossed over to Thailand late last month following the raid on the cybercrime hub of KK Park in Myanmarese city of Myawaddy. The Indian embassy in Bangkok said the Thai government has facilitated repatriation of 270 Indian nationals, including 26 women, from Mae Sot to India by two special flights operated by the Indian Air Force. These Indian nationals recently crossed into Thailand from Myawaddy where they were allegedly working in the cyber scam-centres, it said on social media. The Indians were detained by Thai authorities for violation of the country's immigration laws when they had entered it illegally, the Indian mission said. India is expected to operate more flights on Friday to br

Your credit is easier to steal than your money: How online lending works

A simple 'Buy now, pay later' click can trigger a full loan without consent. Weak verification, no alerts, and instant disbursals are fuelling identity fraud in India's digital lending ecosystem

Myanmar detains over 10K foreigners in online scam centre crackdown

Last month, the US sanctioned several companies in Shwe Kokko, a major scam hub it said is controlled by an ethnic armed group allied with the junta

Digital arrests: Inside India's biggest scam and how to tackle it

Damage caused by the rise of the digital-arrest con, which has found fertile ground amid the country's soaring youth unemployment, endemic corruption and glaring wealth inequality, runs deep and wide

Calcutta HC grants bail to Partha Chatterjee in school jobs scam case

The Calcutta High Court on Friday granted bail to former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with the teacher recruitment irregularities case under investigation of the CBI. Chatterjee, the prime accused in the cash-for-jobs scam in Bengal's state-run schools, which perceptively runs into several thousand crores and has rocked state politics for the past several years, was granted bail in a case on irregularities in primary school recruitment, the charge sheet on which was filed by the CBI on December 27 last year. The former minister has been behind bars for over three years now, and has already been granted bail in the other cases slapped on him by the central investigating agencies the ED and CBI. The latest bail order makes him eligible to walk out of jail once the formalities of furnishing bail bonds are over. Lawyers, however, expressed doubts on whether the former minister would be set free ahead of the Durga Puja festival, and opined that in the wake of a .

Scam alert: Inside Delhi’s ₹23 crore ‘digital arrest’ scam

A 78-year-old retired banker from South Delhi fell victim to one of the biggest “digital arrest” scams reported in India.

Chhattisgarh NAN 'scam': ED gets 4-week custody of 2 ex-IAS officers

A special court here has sent former IAS officers Alok Shukla and Anil Tuteja in the Enforcement Directorate's custody for four weeks in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN) scam. The duo surrendered before the court of Special Judge (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) Damarudhar Chouhan, following which they were formally arrested by the ED on Monday and produced before the court. "The special court has granted their custodial remand to the ED for four weeks. The two will be taken to Delhi for interrogation," ED's lawyer Saurabh Kumar Pande told PTI. Last week, the Supreme Court set aside the anticipatory bail granted to Shukla (65) and Tuteja (62). It allowed ED to take their custody for a period of four weeks, after which both were to be released "if not required in any other case, subject to the terms and conditions that may be imposed by the trial court". The apex court had granted the duo one week to surrender. As per the custodial remand