President Droupadi Murmu addressed Indian Police Service probationers, highlighting the growing threat of 'digital arrest' scams and emphasizing the importance of ethical policing and public service.
Cyber fraudsters posing as Delhi ATS and Jammu & Kashmir police personnel cheated an elderly woman from Mumbai of Rs 22 lakh after accusing her of spying for Pakistan, officials said on Wednesday.
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.
'The way the attacks are coming has become much stronger and much wider because of AI.'
'Big Week For #USIndia Law Enforcement Collaboration'
In a pump and dump operation, fraudsters artificially inflate the price of a stock by spreading misleading or false information, creating a frenzy among unsuspecting retail investors.
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.
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.
In today's rapidly evolving digital payment landscape, security concerns remain a top priority for stakeholders across sectors.
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 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.
Link your UPI app to a separate bank account or wallet that has only a limited sum.
The CBI has significantly increased the rate of fugitive repatriation, bringing back 134 individuals in the last five years, doubling the number from the previous decade. This success is attributed to enhanced diplomatic efforts, technological advancements, and improved coordination with Interpol.
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.
Targets should avoid panicking and hang up. 'Disconnecting stops the scammers from building psychological pressure.'
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.
Fraudsters read your mind, weave convincing stories, earn your trust and then vanish with people's savings. Ramalingam Kalirajan reveals five simple tricks that cons use to steal money from you.
The Mumbai Police has assured the Bombay High Court that it will act promptly on cyber fraud complaints and sensitize all police officials to ensure prompt action and FIR registration when such complaints are filed. The assurance came after a city-based woman filed a petition alleging that the local police failed to act swiftly on her cyber fraud complaint, resulting in a loss of Rs 45 lakh. The court has directed the Additional Director General of Police (Maharashtra Cyber) to appear before it on April 22 to inform the bench on the formation of the Maharashtra Cyber Security Corporation.
This marks a 67% increase from the Rs 2,537 crore lost in scams in 2022-2023.
A mechanical engineer in Faridabad was held 'digitally' hostage for six days by cyber fraudsters who duped him of Rs 3.46 lakh. The fraudsters forced him to lock himself in a room and monitored his activities through his mobile camera. They convinced him that he was involved in a drug smuggling operation and threatened him with legal action. The victim eventually realized the scam when the fraudsters forgot to switch off their mics and started talking to each other. Police have registered an FIR and are investigating the matter.
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 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.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad on Sunday said 'some people' have been seeking funds in the name of the Ayodhya Ram temple trust without any approval and a complaint has been made to Uttar Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Union home ministry requesting for immediate action against them.
'The central bank has highlighted that the slowdown in growth has been limited to a few sectors and overall growth is expected to pick up in the second half of the year.'
The number of cyber crimes in India could touch 3,00,000 in 2015
Watch out for vague relationship statuses, reluctance to share personal details or a pattern of disappearing on weekends and holidays, warns Ravi Mittal, CEO of QuackQuack, an online dating Website.
Some online fraudsters got their target and timing horribly wrong on Sunday after they attempted to 'digitally arrest' a senior police official with an automated call over 'credit card misuse' while he was addressing a press conference in Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
In the corporate world, 70 per cent of white collar crimes are committed by people between 36 and 55 years
With real employment offers hard to come by in a tough job market, fraudsters are out making bogus offers in the name of big corporate entities.
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.
UPI-related frauds have accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs 2,145 crore across 2.7 million reported incidents.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in a rally in Delhi, comparing him to notorious criminal Charles Sobhraj and accusing him of spreading lies about the BJP government in Haryana mixing poison in the Yamuna river. Modi said Kejriwal's claims are an insult to India and that the AAP is desperate due to the fear of defeat in the upcoming Delhi elections. He also highlighted the BJP's track record of fulfilling promises and urged people to give him a chance to serve them. The attack comes as the Delhi election campaign heats up, with the AAP and BJP locked in a tight race.
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.
Refrain from sharing any personal information & identity proofs like voter ID number, PAN number, bank account number, credit card information or make any payment to people promising lottery or other unexpected awards.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday said the central bank has developed an innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) based model MuleHunter.ai to address the growing issue of mule bank accounts that are often used for committing financial fraud. Developed by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, the new initiative is piloted with two public sector banks.
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.
Scammers sometimes misuse personal information collected during tax preparation, leading to identity theft or unauthorised financial transactions.
As per the advisory of cyber-security agency CERT-In, a digital arrest is the one in which victims receive a phone call, an e-mail or a message claiming they are under investigation for illegal activities, such as identity theft or money laundering.
The fundamental responsibility for preventing such crimes and for bringing the criminals to justice rests with the State, and it cannot abdicate that function.
