New Delhi. A new method of digital scam has emerged in India, in which fraudsters sitting abroad are plotting to trap the people here. The main center of this scam is the countries of South-East Asia, from where the scammers carry out their plans. Many trading centers have been set up in countries like Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and from there the people of India are targeted. Rajesh Kumar, CEO of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, gave this information in a press conference on Wednesday.
He said, “Illegal travel agents help operate such fake investment scam rackets. “Travel agents first trap Indian citizens by luring them with the job of a data entry operator and then take them to the countries of South-East Asia.” Rajesh Kumar said, “A big case of transnational cyber crime has come to light and this crime is being carried out from the countries of South-East Asia. This year alone, more than 1000 crore Indian citizens lost crores of rupees through fake investment apps.”
The Government of India has issued an advisory regarding this so that people avoid such scams. Many meetings have been held in the Home Ministry regarding this, in which a strategy has been made to control cyber scams. Recently, two people from Andhra Pradesh became victims of such cyber fraud, then thirty Indians were targeted in Cambodia. The Indian Embassy is trying to bring back to India the people stranded in Cambodia, who are trapped there due to cyber crime.
In recent times, the number of cyber crimes in South-East Asia has increased by 40 percent, which is very high. He said, “All this started with the Power Bank scam case in 2020. Then dating app in 2021, gaming and investment app in 2022, marriage app in 2023.. and this year fake trading app has increased a lot. Overall, 10,000 FIRs have been registered only regarding investment scams in 2023.
Many people have lost more than Rs 600 crore:
-4599 complaints and loss of Rs 120 crore in digital arrest
-20043 complaints in trading scam and loss of Rs 142 crore
-62687 complaints in investment scam and scam of Rs 222 crore
-1725 complaints in romance dating scam and scam of Rs 132 crore
Compared to Jharkhand and Rajasthan, the gang operating from South-East Asia carrying out investment scams is a huge threat of cyber crime in India. These gangs carry out their activities from racket centers built in countries of South-East Asia including Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos. Actually, earlier these centers were used as casinos and now the fraudsters sitting here are operating in South-East Asia through cyber financial fraud. This year IC4 has received more than 6 lakh complaints, on which investigation is going on.
#How are people targeted by cyber crime?
-Victim is contacted through normal call, people are panicked through spoof call and scared by making a false case.
-IDs of investigating agencies are made in fake manner and fake certificates are shown.
#How is money transferred
Cryptocurrency
hawala
ATM Withdrawal
International Fund Transfer
#Fraudsters use different banking layers to cheat people. These fraudsters are based in South East Asian countries.
How stock investment scam happens:
-Give fake expert advice.
-First they give advertisements on social media, there is a fake message caption on which they are asked to click.
-They add them to fake Whatsapp groups. Gang members are already active in them.
-There are fake stock trading apps.. which ask people to invest money, fake trading applications… IPO applications
-This year Rs 200 crore has been withdrawn from ATM in Dubai.
Looking at all these cases, the Indian government has taken action against 600 fake apps so far. The scam is being operated from Mayawaddy area in Myanmar. There are many rooms in this compound, there are 8 Telegram channels which are running continuously. There are many Indians in this camp as well. Most of the Indians in this camp located near the Thailand border have gone from Bangkok. Many police agencies of the country are working on this scam. Under this, people from Orissa and Andhra Pradesh are targeted.
Tags: Cyber Attack, Cyber Crime, Cyber Fraud
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 22, 2024, 18:43 IST