Tag: cyber fraud

  • Himachal Horror: Man Loses Rs 5.34 Lakh To Cyber Thugs In Hamirpur |

    New Delhi: As cyber frauds reach alarming heights, a local resident became the latest victim when scammers posing as cyber police officials threatened him with arrest. They falsely claimed his Aadhaar card was being used in illegal activities, officials reported on Saturday.

    How did the fraud begin?

    Bal Chand Rajput, a resident of Galod in Hamirpur district received a call on July 23 from someone claiming to be a FedEx Courier Service employee, reported PTI. The caller informed him that an illegal parcel bound for Taiwan had been seized by the Customs Department and his Aadhaar card had been used to make the shipping payment of Rs 15,250. Rajput filed his complaint on July 26.

    Fraudsters Pose as DCP Crime Branch

    Shortly after, Rajput received another call on WhatsApp from someone claiming to be the DCP Crime Branch. The caller informed him that his Aadhaar card had been used in 18 different accounts linked to underworld and ‘hawala’ businesses, Rajput added in his complaint.

    Rajput Transfers Rs 5.34 Lakh to Scammers

    The caller also told Rajput that CBI and RBI officials would investigate all his accounts and that if any evidence of illegal activities was found, he could face seven to nine years of imprisonment. Fearing arrest, Rajput transferred Rs 5.34 lakh to the account shared by the fraudsters over the phone call, according to his complaint.

    Amount Refunded Within Five Days

    Superintendent of Police (SP) Hamirpur Bhagat Singh said the cyber crime cell acted on Rajput’s complaint and successfully had the amount refunded to his account within five days. “The police immediately freezed the accounts in which the money was deposited and further transferred, and in three days presented a copy of the complaint on the cyber portal in the court, following which the court issued an order for the release of the money on August 1,” SP Singh said, as quoted by PTI.

    Ongoing Investigations

    “I was duped by being threatened with drugs, ‘hawala,’ and underworld connections, but thanks to the prompt action of the police, I have received my money back,” Rathore said. Further investigations into the matter are ongoing, Singh added.

  • Cyber Frauds: DoT Directs Telecom Providers To Block 28,200 Mobiles, Reverify 20 Lakh Connections

    The DoT disconnected a mobile number and blocked at least 20 linked mobile devices after complaints of cyber fraud by a user, via its web portal ‘Chakshu’

  • 61-Year-Old Woman Falls Victim To Cyber Fraud, Loses Rs 6.56 Lakh |

    New Delhi: The advantages and efficiency brought about by technology and digitalization don’t need to be discussed, but the risks it poses becomes talk of the town these days. Scammers are introducing new ways to ditch people or laymans. You may have gone through such incidents in which scammers poses custom officials and ditch commoners.

    What Happened This Time?

    In the latest incident, unknown cybercriminals masquerading as representatives of the Delhi police and Customs Department defrauded a sixty-one-year-old woman. (Also Read: How Much Return Will You Get By Investing In SBI’s FDs? Check Here)

    According to the police, the woman received a call from someone claiming to be from the Customs department, telling her that her name had been used to smuggle drugs from Delhi to Cambodia. (Also Read: ICICI Bank Revises Service Charges For Savings Accounts: Check New Rates And Effective Date)

    They even gave her Aadhar number to further establish their legitimacy as legitimate Customs officers.

    She was then informed by the fraudsters that her bank accounts had also been used for money laundering, and they requested that she deposit Rs 6.56 lakh from her account to have this verified. They assured her that the money would be returned following verification.

    The 61-year-old lady, according to the authorities, just makes ends meet with her rent money. She received a video call on April 15 from someone claiming to be from the Customs Department.

    The caller informed her that a package containing drugs had been transported from Delhi to Cambodia using her personal information, including her Aadhar card.

    To further convince her that the caller was a Customs officer and that her Aadhar card had been used fraudulently, they even provided her with the number of her Aadhar card.

    The caller advised the complainant to come to Delhi and file a complaint with the local police after she denied any involvement in drug trafficking, according to a police official.

    Shortly after the chat ended, she received a call from a few more unidentified individuals posing as representatives of the Delhi Police Crime Branch.

    The officer continued, “They informed her that her bank accounts had been compromised for money laundering and advised her to have the accounts validated by the Reserve Bank of India. The refundable fee for the same was ₹6.56 lakh.

    Fearing legal action, the woman went to her home branch in Kandivali and used RTGS to transfer the money to the bank accounts that the accused had provided.

    The accused people assisted her with the transfer and kept in constant contact with her until the money was transferred, the officer continued.

  • Delhi Police Shares Easy Tricks To Spot Fake Online Banking Messages |

    New Delhi: With the increasing prevalence of online scams, government agencies are stepping up efforts to raise awareness among the public. Recently, the Delhi Police took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to share images demonstrating how to identify fake online banking messages.

    Spotting Fake Messages

    The Delhi Police cautioned that scammers may use Cyrillic Script to conduct phishing attacks. Therefore, they advised users to carefully examine the URL of any link before clicking on it to avoid falling victim to such fraudulent schemes. (Also Read: Veg Thali Becomes Expensive In March, Non-Veg Cheaper: Check Rates)

    The Dangers Of Fake Links

    The police shared two images illustrating how seemingly genuine messages can pose a serious threat. By using Cyrillic Script, scammers can create links that closely resemble the URLs of legitimate bank websites, tricking unsuspecting users into divulging sensitive information. (Also Read: China May Use AI Content To Influence Lok Sabha Polls, Warns Microsoft Report)

    How Scammers Operate?

    Clicking on these fake links redirects users to web pages that mimic real bank websites, prompting them to enter their account numbers and passwords.

    Scammers then exploit this information for fraudulent transactions. Even if users have Two-Factor Authentication enabled, scammers may impersonate bank employees to request additional verification codes.

    Protecting Yourself

    To safeguard against such scams, individuals are advised to scrutinize any messages received from unknown numbers or containing links to bank websites.

    Paying attention to spelling mistakes or special characters in URLs can help identify fraudulent links. If in doubt, users are encouraged to search for the bank’s official website on Google and cross-check the URL.

    Remain Vigilant

    As online scams continue to evolve, users need to remain vigilant and exercise caution when interacting with messages or links from unfamiliar sources. By following these precautions, individuals can better protect themselves against falling victim to online fraud.

  • Beware Of Calls Impersonating DoT, Threatening To Disconnect Mobile Numbers; WhatsApp Calls Starting With +92

    The DoT has cautioned on misuse of mobile numbers, WhatsApp calls from foreign origin mobile numbers (like +92-xxxxxxxxxx) impersonating Government officials.
     

  • Cyber Attack, Data Breach Among Top Risks For Businesses In India: Survey |

    New Delhi: Cyber attacks and data breaches are the top business risks for organisations in India, according to the 2023 Global Risk Management Survey. Cyber attacks and data breaches were placed seventh in the 2021 business risks survey.

    Global professional services firm Aon collected inputs from around 3,000 risk managers, c-suite leaders, treasurers, talent professionals, and other executives from 61 countries and territories to identify the most pressing business challenges. (Also Read: Free Aadhaar Update Deadline Extended: Check List Of Required Documents To Do The Same)

    The biennial survey said that India’s dependency on technology is likely to increase with the widespread adoption of digital infrastructure like the Unified Payments Interface, Aadhaar, and Open Network for Digital Commerce. (Also Read: Poco X6 5G Gets A Significant Price Drop On Flipkart: Check Details)

    “With increasing digitisation, cybercrimes continue to become rampant with costs and complexities associated with such breaches forcing organisations to look at risk mitigation and transfer mechanisms to better manage cyber risks,” the survey noted.

    Business interruption and failure to attract or retain top talent were marked as the second and third biggest risks facing organisations in India, respectively.

    “There is a compelling need for Indian businesses to leverage advanced data analytics and experts to understand and manage the dynamics of integrated risks,” said Nitin Sethi, Chief Executive Officer of Talent Solutions in India at Aon.

    Failure to meet customer needs, rapidly changing market trends, supply chain disruptions, and personal liabilities were marked down the list as other critical challenges for businesses in India.

  • Navi Mumbai Woman Cheated Of Rs 1.92 Crore In Online Share Trading Scam |

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  • Indian Websites, Applications Saw Over 5.14 Billion Cyberattacks In 2023: Report |

    New Delhi: Indian websites and applications witnessed over 5.14 billion cyber attacks last year, especially targeting the healthcare sector, a new report revealed on Thursday. With a 10 times increase in attacks, software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies in India emerged as key targets for cybercriminals due to the high-value customer data they store, according to the report by Indusface, a TCGF II (Tata Capital) funded application security company.

    The retail and e-commerce industries were mostly targets of carding attacks. Other industries analysed, include IT services and consulting, manufacturing, telecommunications, marketing, and advertising. (Also Read: From Investment To Income: A Rs 5-7 Lakh Investment In This Business Idea Could Yield Rs 1.5 Lakh Monthly Returns)

    “Along with card cracking or credential stuffing, we also saw bot-driven, low-rate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks being used more frequently,” said Ashish Tandon, CEO of Indusface. (Also Read: Japan Loses Its Position As The World’s Third-Largest Economy To Germany)

    Coming to mitigation he added, “We have seen reasonable success where AI models are alerting our managed services team of possible anomalies and the team is able to quickly take mitigation measures.”

    Indusface’s ‘AppTrana’ network blocked 6.8 billion attacks globally, with 5.14 billion of those targeting Indian enterprises, SMEs, and government organisations. Cyberattacks exhibited an average quarterly spike of 63 percent from Q1 to Q4 in 2023, underscoring the urgency for robust cybersecurity measures, said the report.

    The report sheds light on the vulnerability of various industries, particularly the healthcare sector, where 100 percent of websites faced bot attacks, and the banking, finance, and insurance sectors, where 90 percent of entities experienced similar attacks.

    In 2023, eight out of 10 sites faced targeted bot attacks, witnessing a 46 percent increase each quarter, totalling over 467 million bot attacks. Major cyber attack origins, apart from India, included the US, the UK, Russia, Germany, and Singapore, the report mentioned.

  • Online Promises Turn Sour: Navi Mumbai Man Duped Of Rs 10.13 Lakh In High-Return Scam |

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  • Online Investment Fraud: Union Bank Manager Falls Victim To Scam, Loses Rs 21 Lakh |

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