The Enforcement Directorate (ED) reports a decline in traditional financial crimes due to sustained investigative actions and government initiatives, while highlighting emerging challenges like cryptocurrency fraud and terror financing.
Delhi Police have dismantled an interstate cyber fraud syndicate, arresting 14 individuals allegedly involved in fraudulent transactions exceeding Rs 8 crore. The accused targeted job seekers with fake work-from-home opportunities via social media and job portals.
Delhi Police have dismantled an interstate cyber fraud syndicate involved in an online investment scam, arresting four individuals. The accused allegedly defrauded victims by promising high returns on online trading platforms and coercing them into depositing more money.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police's Counter Intelligence Wing (CIK) has dismantled a sophisticated international cyber fraud racket, arresting seven individuals in Srinagar. The operation targeted victims in the USA, UK, and Canada, using advanced techniques to steal funds through deceptive online schemes.
The Supreme Court has directed the government to raise awareness, compensate, and protect vulnerable individuals who have lost money in cyber scams. The court's remarks came while granting bail to an accused in a cybercrime case, emphasizing the need for public education and cybersecurity awareness.
A 40-year-old woman has been arrested in Delhi for allegedly defrauding a resident of Rs 20,000 under the guise of arranging a loan through social media. The accused, Satvinder Kaur, was apprehended after a technical investigation revealed her involvement in the scam.
Delhi Police have arrested two individuals from Rajasthan for allegedly defrauding a Delhi resident of over 21 lakh through a high-return online investment scam. The accused lured the victim with promises of lucrative returns and prepaid tasks.
Delhi Police have arrested three men and bound down a woman in connection with a cyber fraud operation that allegedly cheated a grocery shop owner of Rs 17 lakh through fake stock market investments.
Cyber fraudsters have duped Delhi residents of nearly Rs 1,000 crore so far this year, with investment scams, digital arrests and boss scams emerging as the most common cybercrimes.
Gurugram Police have arrested a Bangladeshi man for allegedly sending bomb threats via email to several schools in the city. The accused, Saurabh Vishwas alias Michael, was apprehended in Ahmedabad and confessed to creating the email ID used for the threats.
The BJP's landslide victory in West Bengal has not merely redrawn the electoral map but overturned the operating logic of politics in the state, breaching the TMC's entrenched fortress despite a decade-and-a-half of dominance, minority consolidation, and a sustained "outsider" narrative.
The Enforcement Directorate has frozen 90 bank accounts following searches related to the alleged siphoning of Rs 590 crore of Haryana government funds through IDFC First Bank, involving shell companies and bogus billing for gold purchases.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau/Economic Offence Wing (ACB/EOW) has claimed in its chargesheet that Chaitanya, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, received Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore as his share from an alleged liquor scam in the state.
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.
A 32-year-old Delhi resident was allegedly duped of over Rs 9 lakh by a person posing as the chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and accusing him of being involved in the Pulwama terror attack.
The accused had links with six persons, arrested on November 3 from Morbi, Surendranagar, Surat and Amreli districts, for allegedly routing Rs 200 crore to Dubai-based cybercriminals using nearly 100 mule accounts, the release said.
The missive has, however, polarised stakeholders, with mobile operators under COAI coming out in its support, while digital platforms under the aegis of Broadband India Forum expressing "serious concerns" around overreach and calling for a pause in implementation of timelines.
The Lucknow police have uncovered a cheating racket that mimicked the style of exam fraud seen in the first Munnabhai film, where real candidates were replaced by professional impersonators to sit for competitive exams.
The CBI has filed a chargesheet against 17 people, including four Chinese nationals, and 58 companies for their alleged roles in a transnational cyber fraud network that siphoned off over Rs 1,000 crore.
Gujarat police arrest a woman allegedly involved in trafficking job aspirants to Myanmar and Thailand for cyber slavery. The accused lured people with promises of high-paying jobs and forced them to work for international cyber crime syndicates.
The sources said that Chaitnaya Baghel was arrested under section 19 of the anti-money laundering as he was allegedly not cooperating during the searches that came about following receipt of fresh evidence in the case.
'Big Week For #USIndia Law Enforcement Collaboration'
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.
What is digital house arrest? It is a tactic cybercriminals use to confine victims to their homes and scam them, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Enforcement Directorate said on Monday that it had conducted search operations at four locations in Mumbai and Delhi as part of its money laundering investigation into an alleged Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) fraud by Pancard Clubs Limited and others, in which more than 5 million investors have been duped.
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.
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.
The senior IPS officer said that 45 percent of cyber financial frauds taking place in the country are originating from the South East Asia.
A Delhi court on Monday denied interim bail to Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha, arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, saying prima facie she not only destroyed evidence but was also instrumental in influencing witnesses and there is 'every likelihood' of her continuing to do so in case the relief is granted.
Fraudsters in Himachal Pradesh minted a series of a cryptocoins -- two of which were KRO and DGT -- to cheat thousands of investors of more than Rs 200 crore over a period of five years, beginning in 2018 -- the year the crypto reached fever pitch.
'The TMC can't go on forever taking advantage of the people's fright of the BJP.'
"The investigation has revealed that Singh had assured to get changes through Manish Sisodia in the then proposed Excise Policy of 2020-21 to increase the brand registration criterion for IMFL brands at the behest of Amit Arora and Dinesh Arora.
The Supreme Court of India expressed concern over the appointment of DMK leader V Senthil Balaji as a minister in the Tamil Nadu government despite pending money laundering cases against him. The court questioned the state government's decision, stating it is "terribly wrong" to appoint a person as a minister while facing legal proceedings. The matter has been adjourned to January 15, 2025.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal 'directly used' part of the alleged Rs 100 crore generated from the 'kickbacks' of the Delhi excise policy 'scam' by staying in a luxury hotel in Goa, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed in its charge sheet filed against the Aam Aadmi Party supremo.
"Despite two years of probe, the ED has not been able to find even one paisa in evidence. They raided chief minister's residence but got just Rs 73,000," she said.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja at the Rouse Avenue court said Kejriwal will be produced before the court on March 28 at 2 pm.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday claimed before a Delhi court that Aam Aadmi Party leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was involved in "large scale destruction of digital evidence to impede investigation" into the Delhi excise policy case and had changed and destroyed 14 phones.
Kejriwal was produced in the court by the CBI after the end of his three-day custodial interrogation.
With just 10 detectives under his leadership and in about three weeks' time, Senior Superintendent of Police of Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force Amit Pathak cracked an online digital racket that swindled 600,000 people and is now worth Rs 3,700 crore and counting.
A court in New Delhi on Thursday extended the Enforcement Directorate custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1, saying the agency provided 'sufficient reasons', such as the need for him to be confronted with material collected and statements recorded, to permit his further custodial interrogation.