Page 3 - Cybercrime

Bengaluru Police bust Rs 854 cr cyber investment fraud, arrest six people

The Bengaluru Police have busted a Rs 854 crore cyber fraud scam and arrested six people who allegedly cheated thousands of victims across India on the pretext of an investment scheme, officials said on Saturday. Out of the total cheated amount, Rs five crore had been frozen, they said. The accused gang lured the victims through Whatsapp and Telegram. Initially, they were asked to invest smaller amounts ranging from Rs 1,000 to 10,000 on the pretext that they would earn Rs 1,000 to 5,000 per day as a profit, a senior police officer said. Thousands of victims invested money ranging from Rs one lakh to 10 lakh or more, he said. The money invested by the victims was dumped into different bank accounts through online payments. However, after completing the investment process, when the victim tried to withdraw the amount, they never got any refund, he added. Once the amount was collected, the accused diverted the consolidated money to mule accounts (related to money laundering), the ..

80% cybercrimes from 10 districts, Bharatpur new Jamtara: Research

Rajasthan's Bharatpur and Uttar Pradesh's Mathura have replaced Jharkhand's Jamtara and Haryana's Nuh as the infamous hotspots of cybercrime in India, according to a new study by an IIT Kanpur-incubated start-up. The study also revealed that just the top 10 districts collectively contribute to 80 per cent of cybercrimes in the country. The findings have been mentioned by the Future Crime Research Foundation (FCRF), a non-profit start-up incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur, in its latest comprehensive white paper named 'A Deep Dive into Cybercrime Trends Impacting India'. Bharatpur (18 per cent), Mathura (12 per cent), Nuh (11 per cent), Deoghar (10 per cent), Jamtara (9.6 per cent), Gurugram (8.1 per cent), Alwar (5.1 per cent), Bokaro (2.4 per cent), Karma Tand (2.4 per cent) and Giridih (2.3 per cent) are the top contributors to cybercrime cases in India, collectively accounting for 80 per cent of reported incidence, the FCRF claimed. "Our analysis focuse

Top 10 epicenters make 80% of total cybercrime in India, says report

The study, released by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur-incubated Future Crime Research Foundation, revealed alarming trends - especially pertaining to financial frauds

Financial frauds accounted for over 75% cyber crimes since 2020: Study

Financial frauds accounted for over 75 per cent of cyber crimes in the country from January 2020 till June 2023, with nearly 50 per cent cases related to UPI and internet banking, according to a new study by an IIT Kanpur-incubated start-up. Social media-related crimes such as cheating by impersonation, cyber-bullying, sexting and email phishing accounted for 12 per cent of the online offences during the period, the study showed. The findings have been mentioned by the Future Crime Research Foundation (FCRF), a non-profit start-up incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur, in its latest comprehensive whitepaper 'A Deep Dive into Cybercrime Trends Impacting India'. For online financial frauds, which accounted for the maximum 77.41 per cent offences during the period, the FCRF noted that "this category is a dominant concern, covering fraudulent activities related to online financial transactions". "Subcategories include debit/credit card fraud, business email ...

Indian American arrested in US in $13 mn tech fraud, faces 20 yrs in prison

An Indian American has been arrested in New Jersey on charge of being part of a technical support scam that targeted more than 7,000 victims defrauding them of more than USD 13 million, a US Attorney announced Thursday. Charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Manoj Yadav appeared before US Magistrate Judge Jos R. Almonte in Newark federal court. "The defendant and his conspirators are alleged to have misled their numerous victims into thinking that they were a legitimate technology support company affiliated with a major software company," US Attorney Philip R Sellinger said. After claiming to provide technical support for issues involving the software company's popular accounting software, they allegedly charged the victims exorbitant fees for purported support services that were not authorized by the software company, he alleged. "We allege Yadav lied to software users and forced them to pay for services that would usually come free with their initial purchase,

Over 13,000 cybercrime cases registered in UP from 2022 to March 20, 2023

More than 13,000 cybercrime cases were registered in Uttar Pradesh from 2022 to March 20, 2023, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who also holds the home portfolio, informed the state assembly on Tuesday. SP MLA from Sardhana Atul Pradhan had sought the information in a starred question and asked about the measures taken by the government to check the "increasing" cybercrime in the state. "From the year 2022 till 20.03.2023, 13,155 cases of cybercrime were registered. Out of the total number of 27,390 complaint applications, 21,623 cases have been disposed of and the remaining applications are being disposed of," Adityanath said in a written reply. To effectively control cybercrime in the state, 18 cybercrime police stations have been set up. The process of setting up cybercrime police stations in 57 districts is underway, he said. "In every district, cyber helpdesks have been set up at 1,531 police stations of the state to help the victims of cybercrime. District cyber cell has been

NCSC floats G20 Delhi declaration on preventing cybercrime incidents

National Cyber Security Coordinator Rajesh Pant on Monday proposed "Delhi Declarations" for G20 nations to promote cyber peace and cooperation to prevent, mitigate and investigate cyber incidents in cyberspace. While speaking at the B20 Conference on Cyber Security organised by CII, Pant cited various G20 action plans around cyberspace and said that the G20 supports the existing UN cybersecurity norms. "I want to propose today something that I'm calling the Delhi Declaration," Pant said. He said that the G20 encourages states to adopt norms of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace and Delhi Declarations comprises four to five norms that have already been accepted by the UN and the open ended working groups. "We commit to protect, not damage critical infrastructure or other essential and peaceful systems from cyber-related or enabled means, commit to cooperate to prevent, mitigate and investigate cyber incidents, and other malicious activities in cyberspace. In particular, when

New CBI Director expert in tackling cybercrime faced Shivakumar's ire

Currently, serving as the Director General of Police (DGP) in Karnataka, Sood brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his new role

ASEAN leaders to agree to cooperate in fighting cybercrime, scams

Southeast Asian leaders have agreed to tighten border controls and law enforcement and improve public education to fight criminal syndicates that are trafficking workers to other nations, where they are forced to participate in online fraud, according to a draft statement to be issued Thursday at the end of a regional summit. The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, who are meeting in the Indonesian town of Labuan Bajo, will express concern about the increasing abuse of technology in facilitating trafficking in persons in Southeast Asia and globally, proliferated through the use and abuse of social media and other online platforms, according to a draft of their statement obtained by The Associated Press. The use of social media and other platforms by cybercrime syndicates has complicated anti-trafficking in persons efforts, as well as multiplied the number and scale of the cases, it says. Cybercrime scams have become a major issue in the region, with numerous repor

Report, block calls from international numbers to stay safe: Home Ministry

The alert is being circulated by Home Ministry's Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) so that innocent people do not become victims of cybercrime

Unseen shades of financial fraud orchestrated from small-town India

Even as cybercrime comes under national spotlight, filmmakers remain myopic in their depiction

Easy address change process in Aadhaar major cause of cyber fraud: Police

Police officers engaged in probing cyber-related offences believe that the simple process of upgrading the addresses of individuals in the Aadhaar data has emerged as one of the biggest causes of cyber fraud. An Aadhaar card holder can get his or her address changed with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar cards, in multiple ways. One of those is to download an address-change certificate from the UIDAI's website and upload it after getting it signed by any of the various public authorities, such as an MP, an MLA, a municipal councillor, a gazetted officer of Group "A" and Group "B" and MBBS doctors, among others. In several solved cybercrime cases, the investigators have found that fraudsters used fake rubber stamps and forged signatures of pubic authorities to upgrade their personal details in the Aadhaar database. In some cases, even public authorities put their stamps and signature carelessly, without verifying the credentials of ...

Hackers steal $197 mn from crypto lending platform Euler Finance

Cyber-criminals have stolen about $197 million in cryptocurrencies from crypto lending platform Euler Finance

Online crime: MeitY urges adjudicatory system in Digital Bill presentation

Govt likely to make amendments to IPC and CrPC in tandem with the enactment of the Digital India Act to effectively deal with new types of cybercrimes

Cybercrime menace: 500,000 Sim cards blocked in Mewat since January 2022

The fraudsters were making a call using a Sim card, then switching off the phone, removing the Sim and putting a new Sim in the same phone to place the next call

Cyber criminals accessed staff data in ransomware attack: The Guardian

The cyber attack was described as affecting many of the company's key systems, the IT network and "some" of its data

We must have a cyber resilience plan post a breach, says Fortinet VP

The global cyber threat continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with a rising number of data breaches being reported each year.

Hackers exploiting Google Ads to spread malware riddled popular software

Hackers have increased their abuse of the Google Ads platform to target users searching for popular software products.

IT minister launches 'Stay Safe Online' campaign to tackle cybercrime

As part of India's G20 presidency, Electronics & Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday launched the "Stay Safe Online" campaign and the "G20 Digital Innovation Alliance" (G20-DIA).

1.6 mn cybercrime incidents reported since 2020; over 32,000 FIRs: Govt

Over 16 lakh cybercrime incidents have been reported in the country in the last three years following which more than 32,000 FIRs were registered, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal' (www.cybercrime.gov.in) allows easy reporting of all types of cyber crimes and the incidents reported on this portal are routed automatically to the respective State and UT law enforcement agency for further handling as per the provisions of law. "As per the data maintained, more than 16 lakh cybercrime incidents have been reported and more than 32,000 FIRs have been registered from January 1, 2020, to December 7, 2022," he said replying to a written question. The minister said, the 'Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System' has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by fraudsters. So far, financial fraud transactions amounting to more th