Cyber Crimes

Cyber offences can invite ₹1 cr fine, 7 years' jail: UP govt tells Assembly

Uttar Pradesh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna on Tuesday told the state Assembly that cyber offences, including the circulation of obscene and offensive content on social media, can attract penalties of up to Rs one crore and imprisonment up to seven years, asserting that the government has put in place a robust mechanism to deal with such cases. Replying to a query during the Question Hour, Khanna said immediate action is taken whenever objectionable, defamatory or criminal content is circulated on social media. He said such cases are reported by district superintendents of police and station house officers to the cyber wing, including the DIG (cyber), through which the objectionable content can be swiftly taken down, even when the servers are located abroad. He said that in matters related to national security, the special secretary (home) has been authorised to take cognisance and initiate appropriate action. "Action is taken strictly in accordance with the ..

Schools in Jalandhar get bomb threat; evacuation ordered, searches on

A bomb threat sent into panic several schools here on Monday, with authorities evacuating students and launching anti-sabotage actions. Nothing suspicious has been found so far, an officer said. "We were told that there had been some fault in the electricity and we were asked to pick up our children from the school," a parent told reporters. ACP (North) Sanjay Kumar, who was at KMV School, said, "A threat was received on the school principal's email that the building would be blown up." He said the police searched the school premises immediately after the information was received. "Anti-sabotage team also carried out a check in the premises, but nothing suspicious was found so far," Kumar said. He said there were other schools which received similar bomb threats. The Cyber Police teams are tracking the source of the mail, he said. On December 12, several schools in Amritsar were hit by a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax.

CBI chargesheets 4 Chinese for ₹1,000 cr racket, 111 shell firms unmasked

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 through a sprawling web of shell entities and digital scams, officials said on Sunday. After busting the racket in October, investigators unravelled a single, tightly coordinated syndicate that relied on an elaborate digital and financial infrastructure to run a range of frauds. These included misleading loan applications, fake investment schemes, Ponzi and multi-level marketing models, bogus part-time job offers and fraudulent online gaming platforms. According to the probe agency's final report, the group layered the flow of illicit funds through 111 shell companies, routing about Rs 1,000 crore via mule accounts. One account received more than Rs 152 crore in a short span. The shell companies, the CBI said, were incorporated using dummy directors, forged or misleading documents, .

Mass Rescue From Job Rackets: Over 6,700 Indians brought back from Southeast Asia

Over 6,700 Indians have been rescued from fake job and cyber-fraud rackets operating across Southeast Asia.

It's AI vs AI in the cyber-crime world amid rising digital threats

As AI threats increase, governments are also deploying AI to fight cyber crime

Fight scams and spam, report fraudulent messages to govt's Chakshu website

Platform allows users to flag potential cyber fraud and helps authorities take action against cybercriminals

Gujarat cops bust cyber crime racket; transactions worth Rs 1,455 cr found

International cyber criminals routed Rs 1,455 crore in six months using 89 bank accounts provided to them on commission basis by three men from Surat in Gujarat, police officials said on Friday. This was found out after Kirat Jadwani, Meet Khokhar and Mayur Italia were arrested on May 28 for cheating and forgery after the recovery of 21 debit cards, 30 cheque books and six PAN cards issued to different individuals, Udhna police station inspector SN Desai said. They were arrested after one of their associates was caught with PAN cards and stamps of various firms during a routine vehicle check in Udhna, he said. "We found the trio had opened 165 bank accounts using documents of people who had applied for personal loans. They gave access to these accounts to cyber criminals for crimes such as digital arrest, hawala transfer, task fraud, betting, stock market fraud, online cheating and OTP fraud," said Desai. The three came in contact with cyber criminals based in Cuba, Thailand and ..

E-Zero FIR to speed up action on cyber frauds: How will it help you?

The aim of e-Zero is to cut the procedural delay in the first few crucial hours when chances of recovery of lost money is high.

Cyber fraud alert: Police urge public to cross-check news, avoid scams

Cross-verification of news items and avoiding clicking on suspicious links are among the advisories issued to the public to prevent them from falling prey to cyber frauds, the Cyber Crime Wing of the police department said on Saturday. The agency also appealed to people not to trust any investment schemes or trading platforms promoted through unverified sources, even if they appear to be endorsed by public figures. Citing a recent social media post containing sensational headlines involving celebrities and forged logos of popular news outlets that promote investment opportunities through stock trading, the Cyber Crime Department said the proliferation of such media postswith fake news involving public figures like singer Shreya Ghoshal endorsing investment websitesposes a significant risk to social media users. A team of officials from the department is actively patrolling social media platforms and has been taking down fraudulent handles and websites. "So far, we have identified 25

HAL loses Rs 55 lakh in cyber fraud after scammers alter email address

HAL's Kanpur branch received an email from cybercriminals posing as the genuine US-based dealer

Digital arrests, cyber crimes tripled during 2022-24, govt tells Parliament

To curb the menace, the minister said, I4C in collaboration with the department of telecommunications (DoT) has launched a caller tune campaign

How cryptocurrency is becoming a mainstay for cybercriminals worldwide

India had its largest crypto theft last year when currencies worth $230 million were stolen from wallets linked to WazirX exchange, according to news reports

Why are Indians trapped in Myanmar's Myawaddy region in cybercrime scams?

Hundreds of Indians trapped in Myanmar's Myawaddy region were lured by fake job offers and forced into cybercrime; a crackdown by Thailand, Myanmar, and China aims to dismantle these scam hubs

Maharashtra cyber cell files case against 'India's Got Latent' show hosts

This action came in response to the vulnerability and disrespectful comments by host Samay Rana and guests including Ranveer Allahbadia during the latest episode

Telcos block 20 global carriers allowing spoofed calls to reach India

DoT has asked telcos to flash 'international calls' on all calls originating abroad

SC warns of fake sites impersonating its official page, soliciting details

The Supreme Court registry on Thursday issued a public notice about the creation of multiple fake websites impersonating its official site and warned that they have been soliciting personal details and confidential information. "The Registry, Supreme Court of India has been made aware of a phishing attack," it said, adding the fake websites have been hosted on the uniform resource locator (URL). It said, "The attackers through the URLs are soliciting personal details and confidential information. Any visitor on the above URLs is strongly advised not to share and divulge any personal and confidential information, as the same shall enable the perpetrators to steal the information." The registry said the notice is being issued in the public interest and it strongly advises the public at large, to neither click nor share links they receive without verifying the authenticity. "Please note that the Registry, Supreme Court of India will never ask for personal information, financial detail

Chinese Salt Typhoon hackers target AT&T, Verizon but networks secure

An independent and highly respected cyber security firm has confirmed the containment, Verizon said

Cybercrime hotlines in Bengaluru remain unreachable amid rising cases

The IT hub of India faces a strange kind of predicament. Despite increasing cybercrimes in Bengaluru, almost all the hotlines meant for reporting them are either switched off or just keep ringing. Incidentally, according to the Bengaluru City Police website, India's first Cyber Crime Police Station was started in CID, Bengaluru way back in 2001. Then in 2017, according to the information provided in its website, to tackle the growing number of cybercrimes, another cybercrime police station came up in the premises of the Police Commissioner's office in Bengaluru. Eventually, the city got eight such police stations nine, if we include the Bengaluru Rural as well to register and investigate cases related to not only cybercrimes, but also economic and narcotic offences. They are called CEN (Cybercrimes, Economic and Narcotics Offences) Police Stations. All these police stations, in theory, can be accessed round the clock via their hotline. But when PTI called at different times, ove

Cyber crimes, climate change new threats to human rights: President Murmu

The human rights discourse so far has been centred on the "human agency" as the violator is assumed to be a human but with AI entering our lives, the "culprit could be a non-human" but an intelligent agent, President Droupadi Murmu said on Tuesday. In her address at an event hosted by the NHRC here to mark the Human Rights Day, the President also underlined that cyber crimes and climate change are "new threats" to human rights. Human Rights Day is observed on December 10 every year to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The UDHR serves as a global benchmark for the protection and promotion of human rights. "As we progress into the future, we are confronted with emerging challenges. Cyber crimes and climate change are new threats to human rights," Murmu said. The digital era, while being transformative, had brought with it complex issues such as cyber bullying, deep fake, priv

Awareness essential to protect oneself from 'cyber arrest' scams: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke about the cyber crime of "digital arrests", noting that it has hit all sections of society and urging people to adopt the mantra of "stop, think and take action" when faced with such a scam. In his 'Mann ki Baat' broadcast, Modi said probe agencies are working with states to deal with the issue but added that awareness is essential in protecting oneself from this crime. The prime minister played a representative video to show how such criminals pose as probe agency officials to prey on people's fear after gathering detailed information about their potential victims. He said, "Beware of Digital Arrest frauds.No investigative agency will ever contact you by phone or video call for such an investigation." Modi asked people to dial 1930 to connect with national cyber helpline or connect with its portal and also inform police about such a crime. They should record such conversations and also take screenshots, he said touching on the crime wh