The Chhattisgarh

Tag: cybercrime

  • Naked-Chat Blackmail: 55 Men, 4 Women Fell Prey To Video Chat Scam, Made To Pay Rs 2 Cr As Sextortion; Caution For Indians |

    New Delhi: Around 59 people in Hong Kong, four of whom were women, were deceived into paying over HK$1.9 million (about Rs 2 crore) in just one week after they were forced to go nude during video conversations. 

    The South China Morning Post (SCMP) said that the police released the numbers on its Facebook page on Friday, cautioning locals to exercise caution when meeting persons online.

    To trick women on social media, the scammers have also been masquerading as “highly educated, high-income and physically attractive” men. The Hong Kong police claimed that the perpetrators “use sweet talk to learn about the victims’ personal lives and interests to manipulate them.” It was further said, “In the past week, police received 59 cases of naked-chat blackmail, with scammers extorting more than HK$1.9 million. Four cases involved female victims.”

    Additionally, the police disclosed that a 5th of the 1,102 victims of “naked-chat blackmail” were students. The scammers coerced the victims into paying over HK$31 million(about Rs 34 crore). According to SCMP, several of the students were around 11 years old.

    Cases of naked-chat blackmail or sextortion in India
    Several instances of sextortion or naked chat blackmail have also been documented in India. People were cautioned by the Kerala police earlier this year about honey traps and not to answer video calls from strangers or unknown numbers. In 2022, a Bengaluru man had to pay Rs 5 lakh man to fraudsters after he was tricked into becoming nude on a video chat. In 2023, two men were detained in Rajasthan for tricking a person from Vadodara into making a naked WhatsApp chat and demanding Rs 3.33 lakh from him. 

    What is Sextortion?
    Sextortion is a type of cyber abuse in which a cybercriminal uses social media platforms, instant messaging apps, SMS, online dating apps, porn sites, and other channels to entice victims into private video/audio chats where they are forced to pose nude or provide explicit pictures. These materials are eventually used by the fraudsters to blackmail the victims. Both male and female victims may fall prey to these kinds of frauds. 

    Tips to protect against online sextortion
    * Never accept video calls or open attachments from strangers.
    * Keeping your personal photos, videos, and posts private is advisable.
    * It is always advisable to decline friendship requests from strangers on social media.
    * Do not click on intimate, nude, or semi-nude pictures and videos.
    * Enable privacy and security settings on social media accounts.
    * File a sextortion complaint with the cybercrime cell.

  • Centre Cautions Citizens Not To Fall Prey To Fraudulent Calls Impersonating TRAI |

    The Centre on Wednesday cautioned citizens not to fall prey to fraudulent calls impersonating officials from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). There have been numerous instances where scammers, claiming to be from the telecom regulatory body, threaten people that their numbers will be blocked soon unless they give certain personal information.

    “It has been brought to the notice of TRAI that a lot of pre-recorded calls are being made to citizens claiming to be from the TRAI,” the regulatory body said. The TRAI further clarified that it does not initiate communication with customers regarding mobile number disconnection through messages or otherwise.

    “TRAI has also not authorised any third-party agency to contact customers for such purposes. Therefore, any form of communication (call, message or notice) claiming to be from TRAI and threatening mobile number disconnection should be considered a potential fraudulent attempt and must not be entertained,” it advised.

    The government also encouraged citizens to report suspected fraudulent communications through the Chakshu facility on the Department of Telecommunications’ Sanchar Saathi platform. “For confirmed instances of cybercrime, victims should report the incident at the designated cyber crime helpline number ‘1930’ or through the official website,” said TRAI.

    Moreover, the disconnection of any mobile number due to billing, KYC or misuse if any, is done by the respective telecom service provider (TSP). Citizens are advised to be vigilant and not panic to fall prey to suspected fraudsters. TRAI said they should cross-verify such calls by contacting the authorised call centres or customer service centres of the respective TSP.

    Meanwhile, the regulatory body has directed access service providers to take concrete measures to curb misuse of messaging services, effective from September 1. The telecom authority mandated them to migrate telemarketing calls starting with 140 series to the online distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform, latest by September 30, for better monitoring and control.

  • RPF takes swift action against ticket brokers in Chhattisgarh, seizes old and live tickets worth thousands of rupees

    Rajnandgaon. Under the direction of Divisional Security Commissioner of Railway Protection Force Nagpur Deep Chandra Arya, a special campaign was conducted by Inspector Taruna Sahu and Sub Inspector P.L. Jumde of Railway Protection Force Post Rajnandgaon. During this campaign, action was taken against brokers doing illegal business of railway reserved e-tickets in Sukaludaihan village.

    During this campaign, Rajnandgaon RPF conducted a surprise inspection at the online center (shop) of Mithlesh Kumar Devangan, a resident of village Sukaludaihan, located at Bazaar Chowk on the basis of secret information. During this, a total of 11 old and 4 live railway reserved e-tickets made through IRCTC using two personal user IDs were recovered, whose total value is estimated to be Rs 20,044.

    Mithlesh Kumar Dewangan admitted during interrogation that he used to charge his customers ₹100-₹150 extra for the tickets. 11 old and 4 live e-tickets along with Lenovo company’s computer system worth Rs 20,000 were seized from his possession, making the total value of the seized property worth Rs 40,044.

    In this case, a case was registered against the accused under Crime No. 795/24 under Section 143 Railway Act on 17 August 2024. The accused was given notice under Section 35 (03) B.N.S.S. and directed to appear in the Railway Court Raipur on the next date and he has been released.

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  • Got Traffic e-Challan Message On WhatsApp? Check How Vietnamese Threat Actors Are Targeting Indian Users |

    Bengaluru: A highly technical Android malware campaign by Vietnamese hackers is targeting Indian users through fake traffic e-challan messages on WhatsApp, according to a report on Wednesday. 

    Researchers from CloudSEK, a cybersecurity firm, identified the malware as part of the Wromba family.

    It has infected more than 4,400 devices and led to fraudulent transactions exceeding Rs. 16 lakh by just one scam operator, they said.

    “Vietnamese threat actors are targeting Indian users by sharing malicious mobile apps on the pretext of issuing vehicle challan on WhatsApp,” said Vikas Kundu, Threat Researcher, CloudSEK.

    Scammers are sending fake e-challan messages impersonating the Parivahan Sewa or Karnataka Police and tricking people into installing a malicious app.

    The app steals personal information and also facilitates financial fraud.

    Clicking the link within the WhatsApp message would lead to the download of a malicious APK disguised as a legitimate application.

    Once installed, the malware requested excessive permissions, including access to contacts, phone calls, SMS messages, and the ability to become the default messaging app.

    It then intercepts OTPs and other sensitive messages, which enables attackers to log in to victims’ e-commerce accounts, purchase gift cards, and redeem them without leaving a trace.

    Kundu explained that once the app gets installed, it extracts all the contacts to scam more users.

    Further, all the SMSes will be “forwarded to the threat actors thus allowing them to log in to various e-commerce and financial apps of the victim,” he added.

    Using proxy IPs, the attackers avoid detection and maintain a low transaction profile.

    Using the malware, attackers have accessed 271 unique gift cards, conducting transactions worth Rs 16,31,000, according to the report.

    Gujarat has been identified as the most affected region, followed by Karnataka.

    To protect against such malware threats CloudSEK urged users to stay vigilant and adopt security best practices installing apps only from trusted sources like Google Play Store; limiting app permissions and regularly reviewing them, maintaining updated systems, and enabling alerts for banking and sensitive services.

  • Getting Fake Calls Threatening To Disconnect Your Mobile On Behalf Of DoT/TRAI? Report At THESE Numbers |

    New Delhi: Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued an advisory to citizens to not to take fake calls being received by the citizens wherein callers are threatening to disconnect their mobile numbers, or their mobile numbers are being misused in some illegal activities. DoT said that it does not make calls to citizens threatening disconnection.

    The DoT had also issued advisory about WhatsApp calls from foreign origin mobile numbers (like +92-xxxxxxxxxx) impersonating government officials and duping the people.

    Cyber criminals through such calls try to threaten or steal personal information to carry out cyber-crime/financial frauds. 

    Where To Report Fake Calls?

    The DoT/TRAI said it does not authorise anyone to make such call on its behalf and has advised people to stay vigilant and report such fraud communications at ‘Chakshu – Report Suspected Fraud Communications’ facility of Sanchar Saathi portal (www.sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc). Such proactive reporting helps DoT in prevention of misuse of telecom resources for cyber-crime, financial frauds, etc.

    The DoT also advises citizens to report at cyber-crime helpline number 1930 or www.cybercrime.gov.in in case of already a victim of cyber-crime or financial fraud.

    Various measures have been taken to combat suspected fraud communications and to curb cybercrime activities. Under CHAKSHU facility, 52 Principal Entities, involved in sending malicious and phishing SMSs to the citizens have been blacklisted. 700 SMS content templates have been deactivated. 348 mobile handsets blacklisted on pan- India basis across all telecom operators.

    10,834 suspected mobile numbers flagged for re-verification to the telecom operators out of which 8272 mobile connections disconnected failing re-verification till 30th April 2024. 1.86 lakh mobile handsets blocked on pan India basis for involvement in cybercrime/financial frauds.

    Advisories have been issued on a regular basis for the public to create awareness on fake notices impersonating DoT/TRAI, suspected fraud communications and malicious calls via press, SMS, and social media, said DoT.

     

  • Scam Alert! Delhi Engineer Loses Rs 12 lakh In Telegram Crypto Scam

    Cryptocurrency scams rise in India, targeting social media users. Engineer Ankit Chaudhary lost Rs 12 lakh in a Telegram group scam. Delhi Police investigates and warns against online frauds.