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.
'By quick, fast, and just awards, the insurance ombudsman can bring the trust of the policyholders in the insurance system and insurance as a product and create a positive impact on the entire industry.'
The number of frauds in the banking sector increased over four times in the past five years to 36,075.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
'Instead of the government and telecom operators solving the mess of their own creation, they're telling us we need to give access to our phones perpetually.'
Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm may deliberately delay transactions, issue fraud alerts, and require an extra layer of user confirmation before processing any transactions that are likely to be classified as fraudulent.
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.
A phone number and e-mail are often enough for a fraudster to trick a lender into pulling your report and disbursing a loan.
'Big Week For #USIndia Law Enforcement Collaboration'
We as customers have to be conscious and careful to sidestep numerous types of frauds made possible under a mindless shift to a digital ecosystem without customer-redress procedures, warns Debashis Basu.
'Reinvention is not a hugely difficult task. With technology as available today, you can reinvent yourself pretty quickly.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday launched the foreign currency settlement system in GIFT IFSC, which will facilitate seamless transactions on real-time basis, enhance liquidity management, and ensure compliance.
A family in Noida was duped of over Rs 1 crore after they were kept under 'digital arrest' for five days by unknown people posing as government officials. The scammers threatened the family with arrest by making video calls and claiming to be investigating money laundering and other crimes. This is a new type of cyber fraud where the accused pose as law enforcement agency officials and use video calls to intimidate their victims.
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.
"We did not know that a CBI inquiry was requested on our behalf regarding the Karur tragedy. It has been nine years since my husband Panneerselvam, who had signed the petition, abandoned us," says Sharmila, mother of the 9-year-old boy who had lost his life in the stampede during a political rally addressed by actor-politician Vijay.
The fundamental responsibility for preventing such crimes and for bringing the criminals to justice rests with the State, and it cannot abdicate that function.
The raids were linked to a sophisticated organised investment fraud scheme targeting unsuspecting individuals through fake mobile apps and WhatsApp groups.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked fintech firms to focus on risk management at a time when criminals are using AI to mimic voices, clone identities and create lifelike videos to manipulate people.
Such attempts had risen sharply right before pandemic and early part of pandemic by 121 per cent.
As part of its efforts to strengthen customer protection, Reserve Bank is considering setting up a fraud registry to create a database of fraudulent websites, phones and various modus operandi used for digital fraud. Such a database will help prevent these fraudsters from repeating the fraud as the websites or phone numbers would be blacklisted, RBI executive director Anil Kumar Sharma said on Monday. "There is no definite timeline for setting up of the fraud registry.
Knowledge workers and mid-career professionals in India are hopeful that artificial intelligence will positively impact their roles, even as concerns about job displacement persist, especially among younger professionals, a top official of a human capital management solutions provider has said. At a time when AI has become a critical part of an organisation's functioning, many professionals see the positive possibilities of AI.
'In this age of competition, we will not survive long if we do not provide quality service to our consumers'
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at seven locations across India in connection with a Rs 350 crore crypto ponzi scam. The accused, operating seven modules in different cities, allegedly lured investors with promises of high returns on cryptocurrency investments. The CBI seized digital virtual assets totaling USD 38,414 in cryptocurrency wallets, cash amounting to Rs 34.2 lakh, and digital evidence, including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, hard disks, and memory cards. The agency registered the case under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.
UPI has catapulted India into the forefront on the global digital payments landscape. Working hand in hand, the AePS payments system is making life easy for rural folks, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
State-owned banks have received guidance from the government to close Jan Dhan accounts whose beneficiaries are unwilling to keep them active, amid rising instances of such accounts being misused by fraudsters as mule accounts to defraud people, people aware of the development said.
Female students alleged that Saraswati used abusive language, sent obscene messages, and made unwanted physical advances.
What is digital house arrest? It is a tactic cybercriminals use to confine victims to their homes and scam them, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Three men in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, received income tax notices demanding crores of rupees despite earning meager salaries, highlighting the growing issue of identity theft in India. The victims, who earn between Rs 8,500 and Rs 15,000 per month, were shocked to receive notices for Rs 33.88 crore, Rs 3.87 crore, and Rs 7.79 crore respectively. The authorities believe that businesses have been conducting large-scale transactions using forged Aadhaar and PAN cards in the names of these individuals.
The Congress party has launched a web portal where people can register to demand accountability from the Election Commission over alleged vote rigging, following Rahul Gandhi's claims of 'vote chori'.
Reduction of GST on health insurance premium from 18% to 0% looks like a straight 18% reduction in what consumers pay. The truth, however, is...
The Indian government has introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to ban online games played with money, aiming to curb addiction, money laundering, and financial fraud. The bill also targets advertisements and financial transactions related to such games.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday (local time) issued a firm response to United States President Donald Trump's announcement of a 50 per cent tariff on Brazil by invoking the country's 'Economic Reciprocity Law', while asserting Brazil's sovereignty and rejecting 'any form of tutelage' in what he described as Trump's attempts to interfere in the country's internal judicial affairs.
This marks a 67% increase from the Rs 2,537 crore lost in scams in 2022-2023.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday asked fintech startups to come out with solutions to deal with the rising incidence of digital arrests, cheating by fly-by-night operators, and other kinds of cyber frauds. Speaking at the Digital Payments Awards 2025 ceremony here, the minister credited fintechs with helping speed up financial inclusion and taking the payment system to even the far-flung areas of the country.
Fraudsters lure individuals with false promises of recovering bonuses or maturity proceeds from lapsed policies.
The growing caution among hospitals is being driven by a rise in double-extortion ransomware attacks, AI-enabled phishing, deepfake fraud, and vulnerabilities in connected medical devices.
With digital adoption fast gaining currency, India is likely to see retail digital payments double to $7 trillion by 2030 from current levels, a study by Kearney and Amazon Pay said. In the report 'How Urban India Pays', Kearney-Amazon Pay said strong adoption of digital payments in online purchases has potentially led to a permanent shift in consumer behaviours, fuelling offline adoption as well.
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 Enforcement Directorate has said it seized cash of Rs 1.70 crore and documents related to immovable assets during searches conducted against Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL), Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) and other entities in an alleged homebuyers' fraud case linked money laundering investigation. The raids were carried out at 15 premises in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Mumbai on May 23 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
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.
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