SEXTORTION
India launches online 'Suspect Registry' to combat cyber crime: 1.4 mn criminals identified
Union home minister Amit Shah launched an online 'suspect registry' containing data of 1.4 million cyber criminals involved in financial frauds. The registry, created by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), aims to strengthen fraud risk management. Since 2021, I4C has recovered Rs 2,800 crore for about 850,000 victims.
Snap sued by New Mexico over failure to protect children from sexual exploitation
The lawsuit brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said a months-long investigation found that Snapchat was a primary platform for sextortion, in which a predator coerces a minor into sending explicit photos or videos and threatens to distribute the content unless more sexual content or money is paid.
Meta removes 63,000 Instagram accounts in Nigeria over 'sextortion' scams
Nigerian online fraudsters, known as "Yahoo boys," are notorious for scams that range from passing themselves off as people in financial need or Nigerian princes offering an outstanding return on an investment.
Nearly 700 people falling prey to cyber crimes in Delhi every day: DCP Cyber Crime Cell
The Deputy Commissioner of Delhi's Cyber Crime Cell revealed a concerning trend of 700 cyber fraud victims daily in the capital. The crimes, fueled by ignorance, greed, and fear, range from financial fraud to sextortion. Despite successful arrests, cyber criminals continue to exploit victims. Public awareness and timely reporting crucial to combatting cyber fraud.
Snapchat announces safety measures for teenagers. What does this mean?
Snapchat has announced a number of safety features to safeguard teenagers and allay apprehensions from a number of sides.
Mumbai man loses Rs 1.07 crore in trading scam; Here's how Indians lost Rs 1,750 cr in just four months
A 48-year-old man from Navi Mumbai lost Rs 1.07 crore in a share trading scam, highlighting a broader surge in cybercrime in India. The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) reported 20,043 trading scam cases amounting to Rs 14,204.83 crore between January and April 2024. Fraudsters often use call spoofing and impersonate officials to deceive victims. The government has responded by freezing bank accounts and blocking SIM cards to protect potential victims.
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Indians lost over ₹1,750 crore to cyber fraud in first four months of 2024
According to Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), on an average 7,000 cybercrime complaints were registered per day in May 2024, a jump of 113.7% between 2021-2023 and 60.9% from 2022-2023, and 85%of them were financial online frauds.
Meta turns to AI to protect minors from 'sextortion' on Instagram
Meta said on Thursday it was developing new tools to protect teenage users from "sextortion" scams on its Instagram platform, which has been accused by US politicians of damaging the mental health of youngsters. The legal filing alleged Meta had exploited young users by creating a business model designed to maximise time they spend on the platform despite harm to their health.
US Senate hearing: Meta, TikTok, X CEOs grilled by senators about child sexual exploitation
The hearing marks the latest effort by lawmakers to address the concerns of parents and mental health experts that social media companies put profits over making sure their platforms do not harm children.
MHA think tank alerts against 'hijack', sextortion, impersonation scams on WhatsApp
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) has issued an advisory and alert against various scams on WhatsApp that lead to cyber crimes and financial frauds. BPRD has identified seven types of frauds, including tricking through missed calls, video calls, job offers, investment plans, impersonation, hijacking, and screen share. Scammers hijack victims' WhatsApp accounts and request money from their contacts.
Invesco raises Swiggy’s valuation by 9%; FMCG items a hit on ecommerce platforms
US asset manager Invesco has marked food-delivery platform Swiggy's valuation up by 9% to $8.5 billion in a second consecutive increase. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.
G20 website targeted at least 16 lakh times last year: Cyber Agency
India's official G20 website was attacked at least 16 lakh times last year, with ₹10,319 crore stolen between April 2021 and December 2023. The attacks targeted victims through online investment fraud, illegal lending apps, sextortion, and OTP forwards. Most crimes originated from China, Cambodia, and Myanmar and involved non-state actors.
Over Rs 10,300 crore siphoned off by cyber criminals since 2021: report
Over 4.52 lakh cyber crime cases were reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) in 2021, which rose by 113.7% in 2022, with 9.66 lakh cases being reported on the portal.
Bollywood star or deepfake? AI floods social media in Asia
While digitally manipulated images and videos of women were once easy to spot, usually lurking in the dark corners of the internet, the explosion in generative AI tools such as Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and DALL-E has made it easy and cheap to create and circulate convincing deepfakes.
Fake job posts, fraudulent emergency calls: 5 ways cyber criminals bamboozle people
Beware of online fraudsters and scams!
Social media giants 'big, bad monsters': US Families suing Big Tech
Hundreds of families are suing social media giants like TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Meta (parent company of Instagram and Facebook) in the US and they feel the tech companies as "big, bad monsters".
Nitin Bhatnagar on the latest trends in cyber fraud and how to safeguard against it
“A magnitude of frauds are happening today and we cannot really classify them. What is important for users to understand is that while you are online you have to be really-really very cautious because these fraudsters can innovate and to dupe you for financial gain they can go to any length.”
Not advisable to tinker with existing age of consent under POCSO Act: Law Commission to govt
The Law Commission in India has recommended against changing the age of consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Instead, it suggested introducing guided judicial discretion in cases involving tacit approval of children aged 16-18. The Commission emphasized the negative impact of reducing the age of consent on efforts to combat child marriage and trafficking.
Scams, phishing made up over 75% of digital threats in first half of 2023: Report
According to the consumer cyber safety brand Norton's new report released on Thursday, cybercriminals now have added support from Artificial Intelligence (AI) in creating sophisticated scams which has led to a surge in incidents.
Amid sextortion's rise, computer scientists tap AI to identify risky apps
Predators are increasingly weaponizing apps and online services to collect explicit images. Last year, law enforcement received 7,000 reports of children and teenagers who were coerced into sending nude images and then blackmailed for photographs or money. The FBI declined to say how many of those reports were credible.
'Fake bride' extorts Rs 1.1 crore from UK-based engineer after video call
The woman befriended Sunny with a fake profile and borrowed Rs 1,500 by citing a medical emergency. Later, she exposed herself while secretly recording a video call and threatened to share it with his parents. In fear of humiliation, Sunny transferred over Rs 1.14 crore. The Bengaluru police froze Rs 84 lakh in the woman's accounts.
Age of AI has led to an alarming proliferation of deep fake porn
Women are a particular target of AI tools and apps -- widely available for free and requiring no technical expertise -- that allow users to digitally strip off clothing from their pictures, or insert their faces into sexually explicit videos.
In age of AI, women battle rise of deepfake porn
Artificial intelligence-enabled deepfakes are typically associated with fake viral images of well-known personalities such as Pope Francis in a puffer coat or Donald Trump under arrest, but experts say they are more widely used for generating non-consensual porn that can destroy ordinary lives.
Getting random calls on WhatsApp from international numbers? Here are the results of a survey
LocalCircles survey on WhatsApp spam calls: 46% of users surveyed confirmed that they have been facing an onslaught of audio or video calls from unknown numbers
Haryana Police unearth Rs 100-crore pan-India cyber fraud, breaks network of scammers in Nuh
Haryana police found that cyber-fraudsters had carried out scams worth INR 100 crore across India. Around 28,000 cases of cyber frauds, located in 35 Indian states and union territories, were linked to a recent cybercrime bust in Nuh district. During coordinated raids undertaken on 27-28 April, 102 teams of 5,000 policemen detained 125 suspected hacker.
No kingpins, just a smartphone and SIM card: How cybercriminals in Mewat scam mobile owners
Delhi Police are also now keeping an eye on the young scammers operating from the Mewat region after several cases of scams revealed that the cyber criminals were operating from the region.
Achieved '100 per cent success' in ensuring peace, Pak-sponsored online terror a challenge: Kashmir ADGP
There were no hartals, street violence, internet shutdown, funeral processions of terrorists, glamorising of terrorists and stone pelting incidents, especially at encounter sites, and this benefitted all sections of society, he said.
Power bill shocker to sextortion, cyber cheats run amok in Delhi-NCR
As the cyber fraudsters keep pace with the digital transformation being witnessed in the country, they send messages of blocking bank accounts or snapping power connection at houses, offices and stores, besides luring people on the pretext of extra earnings or discounts on online shopping.
Pune witnesses rise in 'sextortion' cases with cyber fraudsters on prowl; Over 1,400 cases reported in 2022
Over 1,400 cases of 'sextortion' have been reported in the city of Pune this year so far, reported PTI citing the police. The lurking cyber criminals are indulging in by using the ever-expanding social media space to their advantage. Sextortion, in simple terms, means extorting money from victims by threatening that their private images or videos would be leaked on the Internet. The increased use of social media can be attributed to rising cases of sextortion.
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