Gaming and cyber security experts suggest how kids and parents can stay aware to fight the growing threats and miscreants who act from behind the screen.
Fraudsters lure individuals with false promises of recovering bonuses or maturity proceeds from lapsed policies.
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.
17-year-old Tejasvi Manoj becomes TIME's Kid of the Year 2025 for protecting seniors from cyber fraud.
The accused, who duped the woman of Rs 6.60 lakh during the ordeal between September 5 and 8, continued to send messages even after her death on September 8.
By enabling real-time data sharing, the platform will help prevent scams and ensure secure transactions.
In an age where personal data is a valuable commodity, investing in cyber insurance is not just a prudent choice; it is becoming a necessity for individuals and families alike, says T A Ramalingam.
Targets should avoid panicking and hang up. 'Disconnecting stops the scammers from building psychological pressure.'
The number of digital financial frauds rose more than four times in FY24 year-on-year to comprise 80 per cent of all financial frauds.
October looks bright with a lot of festive season releases on OTT.
'Big Week For #USIndia Law Enforcement Collaboration'
Symantec said most of these fake accounts followed a specific pattern.
The advisory depicted the logos of social media platforms like WhatsApp and Skype to showcase that calls for such scams are made using such platforms.
The victim, who had a keen interest in stock market investments, was lured by fraudsters with promises of hefty returns on investments in stocks.
A retired banker in Delhi lost his entire life savings, amounting to Rs 23 crore, to cyber fraudsters who posed as ED and CBI officers. The victim was kept under 'digital arrest' for over a month and forced to transfer funds under duress.
Police have arrested three persons from Mumbai, including a woman, for allegedly trafficking a man from Chhattisgarh's Durg district for 'cyber slavery' in Laos in southeast Asia and cheating him of Rs 2 lakh, an official said on Wednesday.
UPI-related frauds have accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs 2,145 crore across 2.7 million reported incidents.
In the month of May, the victim got a call from a person identifying himself as telecom department staffer Amit Kumar, who told her a SIM card had been bought with her personal details for use in criminal activities.
We propose an expert group be set up to form a national strategy on digital fraud. This group would bring together skills in financial regulation, security economics, cyber defence, and public communications, and an understanding of the Indian financial and security systems. It should lay the foundations of a coordinated approach by the Indian State in fighting digital fraud, suggest Ajay Shah and Nandkumar Saravade.
The Delhi Police Special Cell arrested a man from Hyderabad for allegedly trafficking Indian youths and forcing them to work in fake call centres engaging in cyber fraud. The arrest came after a 2,500-kilometre non-stop chase, an officer said. The accused, Kamran Haider alias Zaidi, carried a reward of Rs 2 lakh on information leading to his arrest, declared by the National Investigation Agency. Zaidi was apprehended near Nampally Railway Station, Hyderabad, Telangana while trying to escape to another hideout.
A single security lapse could lead to complete wipe out of your crypto assets in seconds, with no recovery in sight, warns Nikhil Sethi.
India is among countries at the highest risk from cyber vulnerabilities caused by a new generation of GenAI technologies.
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.
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.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have intensified their investigations against Gaurav Mehta, a suspect in a Bitcoin Ponzi scam, following allegations that politicians may have been involved in using cryptocurrency to influence Maharashtra assembly polls. The ED searched Mehta's residence in Raipur and seized computers and digital devices. The CBI summoned him to appear before investigators. The ED is probing Mehta's potential links to politicians, politically exposed persons, and bureaucrats as part of its money laundering probe. The allegations came after BJP released purported voice notes suggesting that Congress and NCP leaders were attempting to use cryptocurrency for election campaigning. Both parties denied the claims, calling the voice notes fake.
What is digital house arrest? It is a tactic cybercriminals use to confine victims to their homes and scam them, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Hackers use their best schemes during holidays to steal people's money, credit card or net-banking information.
'The protection of secrecy and anonymity gets lost with this linking.'
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in a circular dated April 11, 2025, warned investors about rising fraud and manipulation linked to the securities market on social media platforms.
'Avoid rushing into any financial transactions or disclosing personal information.'
In addition to educating Delhiites and holding a joint awareness campaign against cyber frauds, Truecaller will also display official numbers of the Delhi police representatives on the app's government directory services.
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.
Bisht used the fake profiles to connect with women aged between 18 and 30 years on various onlione dating platforms.
'The use of AI, especially genAI is only going to get worse, especially in an enterprise ecosystem.'
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.
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.
Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSE) plans to raise Rs 120 crore from investors in an attempt to stay afloat. The beleaguered exchange's board has approved issuance of 1.19 billion equity shares of face value Rs 1 at a premium of Rs 1 through private placements, according to a disclosure on its website.
According to Jaishankar, the problem is that the Russian authorities maintain that these Indian nationals entered into contracts for services with the Russian army.
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.
'E-commerce scams are not new, but what s more alarming is the covert cyber warfare the Chinese entities are launching in India on a repeated basis.'
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