News Analysis India

Tag: Cyber Crime

  • 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 Scam Preys On Mumbai Senior Citizen, Resulting In Rs 4.4 Lakh Loss |

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  • ‘Jamtara’ inspires cyber thugs, 7 cases in Lucknow

    By IANS

    LUCKNOW: Taking inspiration from the popular web series ‘Jamtara’, cyber thugs in Lucknow are now duping innocents by pretending to be defence personnel.

    Last week, a retired bank manager Krishnanand Gupta, who had given an ad seeking tenants for his house, was duped of Rs 1.24 lakhs by a miscreant posing as an army captain.

    In another case, a businessman in Lucknow’s PGI locality was duped of Rs 15,000 by a man posing as army officer on Sunday.

    The businessman had also given an ad for selling his double bed.

    According to police reports, at least seven cases have been reported from the city in the last 20 days where people were duped by miscreants posing as army men or from the paramilitary forces.

    The cyber cell is also getting one such complaint daily.

    SP, cyber cell, Triveni Singh said that fraudsters scan advertisements and zero in on their targets and then they gain the people’s confidence by introducing themselves as army personnel.

    “People usually trust a man who introduces himself as an army man or from paramilitary forces. To appear genuine, the miscreants give a fake badge number, battalion’s name, place of posting, photo in army uniform and identity card,” the SP said.

    He explained that scammers target those who float advertisements of second-hand bikes, cars, gadgets and things of daily usage on social media and sale and purchase websites.

    The SP further added that while taking payment, they dupe through Quick Response (QR) codes which redirect victims to malicious sites that steal login and financial information.

    Singh said that people should not share their confidential details with such callers and refrain from clicking suspicious links.

    LUCKNOW: Taking inspiration from the popular web series ‘Jamtara’, cyber thugs in Lucknow are now duping innocents by pretending to be defence personnel.

    Last week, a retired bank manager Krishnanand Gupta, who had given an ad seeking tenants for his house, was duped of Rs 1.24 lakhs by a miscreant posing as an army captain.

    In another case, a businessman in Lucknow’s PGI locality was duped of Rs 15,000 by a man posing as army officer on Sunday.

    The businessman had also given an ad for selling his double bed.

    According to police reports, at least seven cases have been reported from the city in the last 20 days where people were duped by miscreants posing as army men or from the paramilitary forces.

    The cyber cell is also getting one such complaint daily.

    SP, cyber cell, Triveni Singh said that fraudsters scan advertisements and zero in on their targets and then they gain the people’s confidence by introducing themselves as army personnel.

    “People usually trust a man who introduces himself as an army man or from paramilitary forces. To appear genuine, the miscreants give a fake badge number, battalion’s name, place of posting, photo in army uniform and identity card,” the SP said.

    He explained that scammers target those who float advertisements of second-hand bikes, cars, gadgets and things of daily usage on social media and sale and purchase websites.

    The SP further added that while taking payment, they dupe through Quick Response (QR) codes which redirect victims to malicious sites that steal login and financial information.

    Singh said that people should not share their confidential details with such callers and refrain from clicking suspicious links.

  • IIT-Kharagpur student held for harassing school girls and teachers, uploading morphed pics online

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A 19-year-old IIT student was arrested from Bihar on Thursday for allegedly stalking girl students and teachers of a reputed school here and uploading their morphed pictures on social media, police said.

    Mahavir, who hails from Patna, is pursuing B.tech from IIT-Kharagpur.

    According to the police, he harassed over 50 girl students and teachers of a reputed school in north Delhi.

    They said Mahavir used apps for fake caller ID and virtual numbers on WhatsApp to contact the victims.

    To hide his identity, he also used a voice changing app.

    ​ALSO READ | Elderly chartered accountant held for raping 24-year-old assistant in Gujarat’s Vadodara

    He posted morphed photos of the victims on fake Instagram profiles created by him in their names, the police said.

    The matter came to light after a complaint was received from the school administration on Wednesday regarding cyber stalking.

    According to the complaint, the accused stalked minor girls on social media and sent them messages on WhatsApp.

    He called the teachers from various international numbers and harassed them.

    The IIT student joined the WhatsApp groups created for online classes and also entered the classes, the complaint stated.

    Several morphed photos of the school students were circulated on social media platforms, it added.

    ​ALSO READ | Teacher sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping student in Rajasthan

    A case was registered under section 354-D (stalking) of Indian Penal Code at Civil Lines police station and the district’s cyber cell unit was roped in for technical assistance and later relevant sections of the POCSO Act and IT Act were added in the case, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said.

    As part of the investigation, the police questioned the school students, their parents and teachers.

    Police officials said they managed to identify 33 WhatsApp virtual numbers, five Instagram profiles and several calls made using fake caller ID apps by the accused.

    “Our team analysed details of IP logs of WhatsApp, Instagram and fake mail ID used for creating social media accounts and identified the accused as Mahavir. He was then traced to Patna in Bihar from where he was arrested,” Kalsi said.

    While analysing the mobile numbers, the police found out that the accused had contacted one of the victims three years ago and had been stalking and harassing her since then, he said.

    “Mahavir is pursuing B.Tech from one of the IITs. He came in contact with one of the students of the school and started contacting her friends on Instagram and other social media platforms. Since he had good knowledge of apps, he used it to stalk and harass minor girls,” the DCP said.

    Several obscene videos and photographs were also found in the mobile phone of the accused, the police said, adding that his phone and laptop were seized.

  • Three cybercriminals arrested in Pune for duping Dehradun man of Rs 17 lakh via matrimonial site

    By ANI

    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) on Thursday arrested three people from Pune for allegedly duping a Dehradun resident of Rs 17,10,000 through a matrimonial website.

    As per information shared by Uttarakhand STF Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Singh, the three accused include a Nigerian national, a woman associate and a sim card dealer.

    “The accused woman befriended the complainant through a fake profile on a matrimonial site and collected Rs 17,10,000 under the pretext of a marriage proposal,” said Singh.

    “The preliminary enquiry hints towards a larger network of cyber fraud across the country,” he added.

    The police recovered 10 mobile phones, 18 active sim cards, 58 sim cards, laptops, eight Aadhar cards, three passports, 14 bank chequebooks, one passbook, two net setter devices, wifi routers, and other electronic gadgets from the accused. 

  • Fake news, riots push India’s crime rate up by 28 per cent amidst pandemic

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Covid-19 norm violations pushed up India’s overall crime rate by 28% last year, even though most major crimes saw a decline, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). What kept the police on their toes in the pandemic year was fake news, offences related to adulteration, riots and offences under environmental laws.

    Cases regarding circulation of false/fake news and rumour mongering doubled compared to 2019. Such cases have been on the rise for a while. In 2018, 280 such cases were registered, the numbers rose to 486 in 2019 and last year, as many as 1,527 cases were registered.

    The last year also recorded a surge in the cases of rioting. More disputes as compared to the previous year were reported last year over conflicts concerning religion, sect, caste, agriculture, money, water and land despite the ongoing pandemic. After 45,985 cases of riots in 2019, last year recorded a total of 51,606 cases of riots including 857 cases concerning religious matters, 2,188 agrarian disputes, 10,652 of property altercations and 736 matters of caste conflict.

    Adulteration cases have been increasing too. Under the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 25 cases were registered in 2018 and under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 49 and 175 cases were registered in 2018. The following year saw 49 such cases and 362 cases under PFA and FSAS Act, respectively. Last year, 65 and 625 cases were registered under these two laws — PFA and FSAS.

    Overall crime in the country increased by 28% in 2020 over the non-pandemic year of 2019, according to NCRB, but this rise was mainly attributed to violation of Covid-19 norms and guidelines.  The report lists a total of 66,01,285 cognizable crimes comprising 42,54,356 Indian Penal Code (IPC) violations and 23,46,929 crimes under Special and Local Laws (SLL). It shows an increase of 14,45,127 (28%) in registration of cases from 2019 (51,56,158 cases). 

    “Major increase was seen in cases registered under Section 188 of the IPC (Disobedience to Order Duly Promulgated by Public Servant) from 29,469 cases in 2019 to 6,12,179 cases in 2020 and under ‘Other IPC Crimes’ from 2,52,268 cases in 2019 to 10,62,399 cases in 2020….Effectively therefore, there is a decrease in registration of traditional crime by about two lakh cases,” the report stated.

    Cyber offence cases in India rise by 11.8% 

    New Delhi: India recorded 50,035 cases of cyber crime in 2020, with a 11.8 per cent surge in such offences over the previous year, as 578 incidents of “fake news on social media” were also reported, official data showed on Wednesday. The rate of cyber crime (incidents per lakh population) also increased from 3.3 per cent in 2019 to 3.7 per cent in 2020 in the country. In 2019, the country recorded 44,735 cases of cyber crime, while the figures stood at 27,248 in 2018, the data from corresponding years showed. The year saw 4,047 cases of online banking fraud, 1,093 OTP frauds and 1,194 credit/debit card fraud.

  • India reported 11.8% rise in cyber crime in 2020; 578 incidents of ‘fake news on social media’: Data

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: India recorded 50,035 cases of cyber crime in 2020, with a 11.8 per cent surge in such offences over the previous year, as 578 incidents of “fake news on social media” were also reported, official data showed on Wednesday.

    The rate of cyber crime (incidents per lakh population) also increased from 3.3 per cent in 2019 to 3.7 per cent in 2020 in the country, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.

    In 2019, the country recorded 44,735 cases of cyber crime, while the figures stood at 27,248 in 2018, the data from corresponding years showed.

    The year saw 4,047 cases of online banking fraud, 1,093 OTP frauds and 1,194 credit/debit card fraud, while 2,160 cases related to ATM were reported in 2020, the NCRB figures showed.

    There were also 578 cases of fake news on social media, 972 related to cyber stalking or bullying of women and children, 149 incidents of fake profile and 98 of data theft, it added.

    In terms of motive, the maximum 60.2 per cent cyber crimes lodged in 2020 were done for fraud (30,142 out of 50,035 cases), the NCRB, which functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs, stated.

    It was followed by sexual exploitation with 6.6 per cent (3,293 cases) and extortion 4.9 per cent (2,440 cases), the data showed.

    Among states, the maximum 11,097 cyber crime cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh followed by Karnataka (10,741), Maharashtra (5,496), Telangana (5,024) and Assam (3,530), it showed.

    However, the crime rate was highest in Karnataka with 16.2 per cent followed by Telangana (13.4 per cent), Assam (10.1 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (4.8 per cent) and Maharashtra (4.4 per cent), the data showed.

    National capital Delhi recorded 168 such cases during the year with a crime rate of 0.8 per cent, according to the NCRB, which is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code and special and local laws in the country.

  • Uttarakhand High Court notice to Facebook, Centre on cyber blackmailing 

    By PTI

    NAINITAL: The Uttarakhand High Court has sent notices to Facebook, the Centre and the state government on a PIL filed by an advocate alleging that he was a victim of cyber blackmailing.

    Hearing the petition on Wednesday, Chief Justice RS Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma directed Facebook India Head and central and state governments to file their replies within three weeks.

    The Uttarakhand DGP and the Haridwar additional superintendent of police have also been sent notices by the division bench of the high court.

    The PIL was related to obscene videos on the Internet made using pictures from hacked Facebook IDs and by fraudsters having fake Facebook IDs.

    These videos and accounts were being used to blackmail people and extort lakhs of rupees from them.

    The petitioner, an advocate based in Haridwar, said in the petition that friend requests are sent from fake Facebook IDs and once these requests are accepted the photos are edited into obscene videos.

    After this people are blackmailed for money, he said, adding a similar video was sent to him. He filed a complaint before the SSP Haridwar, DGP and the home secretary but no action was taken, the petitioner said.

    He, then, filed an application under RTI, asking the police department about the number of FIRs registered in such cases. Forty-five victims have lodged complaints in similar cases so far and their complaints are under consideration, he said.

  • Goa cops bust fake call centre, arrest 13 from various states for duping US citizens

    By PTI

    PANAJI: The cyber crime cell of Goa Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a fake call centre with the arrest of 13 persons from various states for allegedly posing as officials representing the US social security administration and extorting money from citizens of that country, police said.

    The accused were arrested from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi. They were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act for running a fake call centre from the Morjim beach village in North Goa, a police spokesman said.

    “The main accused duo Digvijay Rajput and Krunal Sharma had set up this fake call centre and employed some people. They used to obtain personal details of citizens of the USA through illegal means,” he said.

    Explaining the modus operandi, he said the accused used computers and virtual private network to contact their victims through the interactive voice response system.

    “They used to impersonate officers of the Social Security Administration and Law Enforcement Authority of the US,” he added.

    “The accused used to tell their potential targets that they had committed illegal acts like fraud or defaulted on paying tax and used to ask money to settle the matter. The gang was accepting payment through electronic currency and used to withdraw the money in Indian currency,” the spokesman said. Further investigation is underway.

  • Ivory Coast man held in Gujarat duping man of over Rs 14 lakh through fake website 

    By PTI
    SURAT: The police in Gujarat’s Surat have arrested an Ivory Coast national for allegedly duping a man of over Rs 14 lakh after promising him Rs 4 crore for his kidney through a fake website of a reputed hospital, an official said Saturday.

    The cyber cell of the Surat police had registered an FIR against some unidentified persons on July 13 for duping a man of Rs 14.7 lakh with the promise of paying him Rs 4 crore for a kidney, using a fake website of a well-known private hospital, the official said.

    Using technical surveillance, the police nabbed Toty Dago Gregoire, a resident of Bengaluru, Karnataka, who had allegedly created fake websites of 40 to 50 hospitals, which he used to dupe people who were willing to sell their kidneys, he said.

    “Gregoire is originally from Ivory Coast in West Africa. He had come to India on a student visa in 2007 and stayed back. He was earlier arrested in October 2011 for forging fake certificates,” Surat Police Commissioner Ajay Tomar said.

    The accused had allegedly promised the complainant Rs 2 crore as advance for his kidney and asked him to deposit some money over several transactions to start the process, the police said.

    According to the cyber cell, the accused was also involved in creating fake websites for forex trading, bitcoin investment, etc.

    to commit investment fraud and created fake websites that offered jobs abroad.

    The accused created a fake email ID in the name of a Reserve Bank of India official and used on a mobile number to lure his victims into transferring money to various bank accounts, it was stated.

    The police have frozen over Rs 7.50 lakh in eight bank accounts that were used in the transfer of money from the victim, and found that the accounts were used for transactions of over Rs 1.13 crore, a cyber crime official said.

    The accused has been arrested under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery) among other sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act, it was stated.

    “Similar cases have been registered in Bengaluru, and we are trying to find out about other such complaints. We are in touch with the cyber crime cells of other states for the same. We are trying to nab others who helped the accused create the websites,” Tomar said.