Financial Frauds

Financial fraud up as 59% of Indian firms faced crimes in past two years

Indian companies reported a higher exposure to fraud (59 per cent) than the global average (41 per cent), with procurement fraud emerging as the top concern and forced labour risks

ED action linked to fraud done by third parties, says Dentsu India

Leading communications company Dentsu India Friday said the recent ED searches against it were related to a suspected fraud done by some "third parties" and this was "proactively" reported by it to the relevant authorities. The Enforcement Directorate had Thursday said in a press statement that it conducted raids on December 10 at multiple premises in Mumbai, Delhi and Gurugram as part of a probe in the "Suumaya-Dentsu case". The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Mumbai police (Worli police station) against Dentsu Communications India Private Limited and Suumaya Industries Ltd, a textile group, and its promoters and some others. Dentsu India, in response to a PTI query, said they had, in 2021, identified "suspected fraudulent activity conducted by third parties and some of InDeed's former employees against whom criminal complaints have also been filed". "This activity was limited to the InDeed business only. Three years ago, we proactively reported the matter to the ..

What is MuleHunter.AI? RBI's latest tool against financial fraud explained

The Reserve Bank Innovation Hub has launched MuleHunter.AI, an advanced AI tool designed to identify and flag mule accounts, aiming to combat financial fraud and money laundering

SC grants bail to SRS group head Anil Jindal in Rs 770 crore fraud case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to SRS Group chairperson Anil Jindal in an alleged fraud case involving Rs 770 crore being investigated by the serious fraud investigation office. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar observed that Jindal had been in jail for the last six-and-half years and the trial in the case was yet to begin. The CJI said though the offence was grave, the fact that the accused had been in prison for so many years that too without any trial couldn't be overlooked. The bench remarked that Jindal may be granted a 10-year jail term, in case he was convicted. Imposing a slew of bail conditions, the bench directed Jindal, represented by senior advocate Maninder Singh, to surrender his passport with the trial court and provide his contact numbers to the SFIO so that his whereabouts could be ascertained by the investigating officers. The bench further asked the accused to provide details of immovable properties, bank accoun

No legal basis for digital arrests anywhere: Deceptive tactics decoded

Digital arrest refers to a deceptive tactic used by cybercriminals, who falsely claim to have the authority to arrest an individual through digital means, often over the phone or via online channels

Mushrooming mule accounts fuel rise in financial frauds, says official

This represents a more than 10 fold increase over the four year period, underscoring the growing sophistication of fraudsters and exposing vulnerabilities within the financial system

DFS organises workshop in collaboration with Google on financial frauds

The workshop was attended by Vivek Joshi, secretary, DFS, senior officials of public sector banks, DFS, and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

Southeast Asian nations account for half of financial frauds in India: MHA

Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar emerge as the new global hotspots of online frauds

BoB World app scam cases: FinMin pushes for enhanced KYC procedure

In a bid to check incidence of BoB World app scam and other such financial frauds, the finance ministry makes a case for an enhanced KYC procedure and extensive due diligence by banks and financial institutions for onboarding merchants to safeguard customers against cyber risks, sources said. Appropriate due diligence of merchants and Business Correspondents (BCs) who offer banking services in rural and remote areas is necessary not only to check frauds but also to fortify the financial ecosystem, sources said. According to sources, there is a need to strengthen data security and data protection at the level of merchants and BCs as chances of compromise are higher at that level. Therefore, sources said, RBI may advice banks and financial institutions to review the concentration of BCs in cyber fraud hotspots and their onboarding, blocking of micro ATMs found to be involved in frauds. This was one of the suggestions made at an inter-ministerial meeting held recently with the objecti

Govt blocks 1.4 lakh mobile numbers linked to digital financial frauds

To control digital frauds, the government has blocked 1.4 lakh mobile numbers so far that were involved in financial frauds, according to an official release. Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi on Friday chaired a meeting on cyber security in the financial services sector in which various issues including onboarding of banks and financial institutions on the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) platform through API integration were discussed. Integration of CFCFRMS platform with the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) to centralise the platform that will enable effective collaboration between Police, Banks, and Financial Institutions, allowing for real-time monitoring and prevention of fraudulent activities was deliberated, an official release said. The banks and financial institutions are required to phase out the use of regular 10-digit numbers and use specific number series such as '140xxx' for commercial or promotional activities

Payments from crypto ransom attacks doubled to record $1 bn in 2023

Scammers targeting institutions such as hospitals, schools and government offices for ransom pocketed $1.1 billion last year, compared with $567 million in 2022

Around 1.1 million financial fraud cases registered in 2023, shows data

Uttar Pradesh was at the top with around 200,000 cases, the highest across 36 states and union territories. Next was Maharashtra with 130,000 complaints reported, followed by Gujarat (120,000)

BharatPe fraud: EOW finds fake invoices generated by Ashneer Grover family

Preliminary investigations by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) find consultancy firms credited Rs 7.6 crore by BharatPe share addresses of Ashneer Grover's family members

US SEC to impose measures to halt $130 mn fraud targeting Indian Americans

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday announced that it has obtained a temporary restraining order, asset freeze, and other emergency relief to halt an ongoing fraud targeting the Indian American community that has raised nearly USD 130 million since April 2021. Nanban Ventures LLC, its three founders Gopala Krishnan, Manivannan Shanmugam, and Sakthivel Palani Gounder, collectively known as the Founders, and three other entities that these Founders control are allegedly involved in committing the fraud, the SEC said in a press statement. Unsealed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the SEC complaint alleged that the defendants raised more than USD 89 million from more than 350 investors for investments in purported venture capital funds that the Founders managed through Nanban Ventures LLC. They also raised over USD 39 million from 10 investors which was later invested directly in the three other entities controlled by the Founders. The complaint .

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 ...

Scam 2003: Who was Abdul Karim Telgi, and what was the Stamp Paper Scam?

Everything you need to know about the Rs 30,000 crore stamp paper scam and the mastermind behind it

In financial frauds, CFOs failing as first gatekeepers: Sebi's S K Mohanty

The Sebi official pointed out that one of the major areas of concern is that the regulator has seen the rise in related-party transactions

UPI-related scams account for 55% of total digital payments frauds in India

Half of these frauds, however, have a ticket size of less than Rs 10,000

Govt plans unique code to identify entities involved in financial offences

The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau under the finance ministry has created a repository of about 250,000 such offenders

57% of all fraud incidents in India are 'platform' frauds: PwC India

Over 26 per cent of Indian organisations have lost over $1 million till now due to platform fraud, according to a report released by PwC India