Digital house arrest is a tactic where cybercriminals confine victims to their homes in order to scam them. The offenders generate fear by making audio or video calls, frequently posing as law enforcement officers using AI-generated voices or video technology.
Seventeen persons, including four hailing from Taiwan, were arrested by Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch for allegedly operating a nationwide 'digital arrest' racket, a Gujarat police official said on Monday.
The number of frauds in the banking sector during the first half of the current financial year has increased substantially to 14,483 cases, although the amount involved is only 14.9 per cent of the previous year's amount, according to a RBI report. The report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2022-23, underlined the need to protect the banking system and the payments system from the risks of fraud and data breaches emanating from cyber threats. As many as 14,483 frauds were reported involving an amount of Rs 2,642 crore in the first half of current financial year, as compared to 5,396 cases (Rs 17,685 crore) in the same period a year ago.
He said the transformation brought about by the fintech sector in India is not just limited to technology, but its social impact is far-reaching. He also stressed that fintech has dented the parallel economy and is bridging the gap between villages and cities on the financial services front. The prime minister also said that in the last 10 years, the fintech space has attracted investments of more than $31 billion and fintech startups have grown by 500 per cent.
Before heading abroad, ensure your travel insurance policy offers all essential coverage and has an adequate sum insured.
'Raising the entire amount in one go may not be prudent, given the market dynamics.'
'The protection of secrecy and anonymity gets lost with this linking.'
Kataria has been involved in a big nexus of the human traffickers since last year and may have links with an international gang, the police said.
UPI-related frauds have accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs 2,145 crore across 2.7 million reported incidents.
Hindenburg Research, the forensic financial firm that challenged the Adani Group, took its name from the infamous airship that burst into flames upon arriving in New Jersey in 1937. And the counter to its damning report against the conglomerate was dubbed 'Operation Zeppelin,' named after the German dirigible airships used for reconnaissance and bombing during the First World War.
The fraud was operated from call centres in India to defraud hundreds of elderly and vulnerable people in the US, CBI officials said.
A 40-year-old freelance journalist has claimed a person 'hypnotised' him over the phone and duped him of Rs 40,000, but police and experts said this is one of the 'most normal kinds of cyber fraud' and not a case of hypnosis.
Some of the celebrities whose names and details were used by the fraudsters are Abhishek Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty, Madhuri Dixit, Emraan Hashmi and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Shahadra Rohit Meena said.
The directions follow a report by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, which has seen a new pattern of transnational cyber-enabled financial fraud and investment scam, impersonating as stockbrokers and company executives.
A strong demand was made in the Lok Sabha to eliminate online betting and gambling applications. YSRCP member Maddila Gurumoorthy urged the government to set up a dedicated task force to take action against betting and gambling apps. He also asked the government to draft regulations for such applications and launch awareness campaigns about the dangers of online betting. Other issues raised included deposit insurance coverage for bank depositors, representation of Scheduled Castes in the Kerala government, challenges faced by nurses, and the need for paramilitary forces in Jharkhand during upcoming Hindu festivals.
The highest-ever goods and services tax (GST) evasion has been done by the online money gaming industry.
AI-driven and deepfake-enabled cyberattacks are anticipated to become increasingly prevalent in 2025 with sectors like healthcare and finance most prone targets, according to a recent report. The India Cyber Threat Report 2025 by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Seqrite, spotlighted the evolving tactics of cybercriminals and the rise of AI-driven attacks as a major concern. "Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be used to develop highly sophisticated phishing campaigns utilising deepfake technology and personalised attack vectors, making them harder to detect.
The number of cyberfraud cases has skyrocketed from 2,677 in 1999-2000 to 29,082 in FY24 -- more than a 10-fold increase. The RBI pegs digital payment frauds at Rs 1,457 crore in FY24, up more than five times in a year. It's not just the number of frauds. What's alarming is the growing sophistication of the fraudsters, exposing the vulnerabilities within the financial system, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
India needs to follow countries such as Singapore who have and are further bolstering their cyber security apparatus.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
As many as 150 youths from the port city and its vicinity have been stuck in Cambodia for a year already, where they are being coerced to carry out cyber crime and ponzi scams by Chinese handlers, the police said.
A 39-year-old software engineer in Bengaluru lost Rs 11.8 crore to fraudsters who impersonated police officials and claimed his Aadhaar card was being misused for money laundering. The victim was threatened with "digital arrest" and tricked into transferring money to various bank accounts over a period of time, believing his family would be arrested if he didn't comply. The fraud occurred between November 25 and December 12, and police have registered a case under the IT Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating and cheating by impersonation. Further investigation is underway.
Even as India's internet base continues to widen, with the country set to have over 900 internet users by 2025, a parallel rise in cyber threats has become a matter of huge concern. Experts say that the sudden surge in digital adoption left little time to develop a cybersecurity backbone for the country. This has put large amounts of data at risk.
'So, we would work with our members to ensure that we as an SRO create some sort of due diligence for fintechs.'
The advisory has asked government staffers to delete such an e-mail if received in their inbox.
The Indian insurance industry is set to focus on customer-centric technological adoption and expansion into rural areas to drive growth in 2025.
Obscenity, cheating and sexual exploitation are India's leading cyber crimes, reports Chaitanya Mallapur.
Amid a rise in Omicron cases, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an advisory against cybercriminals targeting potential victims by offering them free tests for detecting Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The CBI has registered 11 cases against cyber criminals involved in financial fraud using the internet and the agency conducted searches at 87 locations while 28 locations were raided by the state police forces, they said.
It said a "sudden rise" in terrorist-financing investigations was seen in 2023 and this was attributed to events arising out of incidents in Manipur that led to such probes in more than 50 cases.
Maharashtra and West Bengal lead the way in bank fraud.
The police took action after cyber patrolling revealed that 60 fake lottery apps, 25 fake Facebook profiles and 20 websites are connected to the scam, the SPMC release said.
More people using the internet for financial and e-commerce transactions has led to job creation in a niche segment. Specialists who can help deal with rising technology (tech) frauds are in high demand amid the surge in electronic transactions during the pandemic. Demand for tech fraud experts has risen upwards of 35 per cent, reveals employment and human resource services company TeamLease Services.
What is digital house arrest? It is a tactic cybercriminals use to confine victims to their homes and scam them, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Delhi government's Women and Child Development and Health departments issued public notices on Wednesday distancing themselves from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party's promised schemes of providing Rs 2,100 to women and free treatment for the elderly, triggering a fresh row ahead of assembly polls.
The senior IPS officer said that 45 percent of cyber financial frauds taking place in the country are originating from the South East Asia.
In such frauds customers get calls asking them to share their OTP in order to postpone their loan EMIs. Once the OTP is shared the amount is immediately siphoned away by fraudsters.
'More than 114 cases have been registered for spreading fake messages, rumours and fake news on WhatsApp.' 'People on various groups are reporting such crimes.' 'The most heartening development is people are now not tolerating such things.'
Mastercard recently launched an authentication product called Identity Check Express that enables customers to verify transactions on their own.
As Tendulkar had never given permission to the company to use his name and photographs and it was leading to maligning of his image, he instructed his aide to take legal action, the complaint said.
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