As our dependence on digital technology for virtually every aspect of life – from work to financial transactions – rises, so does our vulnerability to cyber fraud. Over the past few years, there has been a quantum leap in such crimes. Are you doing enough to protect yourself?
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[00:00:00] According to the Cybercrime Department in Bengaluru, the city residents lost around 470 crore
[00:00:13] rupees.
[00:00:14] That's close to 57 million dollars to cyber fraudsters in just 9 months.
[00:00:20] Ukrainian Cybercrime Coordination Center or IFC has that that the highest number of reported
[00:00:25] cyber crimes in 2023 were related to work from home or part-time jobs comes followed
[00:00:31] by legal lending apps.
[00:00:33] Hello and welcome to All Indians Matter, I am Ashraf Engineer.
[00:00:38] Have you noticed the sudden spike in texts and calls asking for your ATM PIN or for you
[00:00:43] to reveal personal details
[00:00:45] failing which your debit card would be blocked or your phone number discontinue.
[00:00:49] As you and I go more and more digital for our transactions and communication, the volume
[00:00:53] of cyber fraud is rising too.
[00:00:56] According to the India Cyber Crime Coordination Centre or I4C, India lost 10,319 crore rupees to cyber heists between April 2021 and the end of 2023, of that 1,127 crore
[00:01:09] rupees belonging to 4.5 lakh victims was blocked due to government initiatives. However, only 9%
[00:01:15] or 10% of that money was returned to the victims. I4C is a specialized cyber fraud,
[00:01:21] detection and prevention unit under the union home ministry. At the 1.930 helpline run by the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, seven lakh complaints
[00:01:29] of online fraud were registered in April 2023 alone. That works out to 23,000 crimes
[00:01:35] a day and nearly 1,000 are. In fact, online financial fraud accounted for 77.4% of cyber
[00:01:42] crimes from January 2020 to June 2023, according to a survey by
[00:01:47] the Future Crime Research Foundation and IIT Kanpur-Inquivated Nonprofit.
[00:01:55] All Indians Matter
[00:02:02] Among the most common frauds, our investment- related scams, loan offers, fake customer
[00:02:07] care calls used to extract OTPs from account holders and sex-tortion.
[00:02:12] The hotspots for such scams out that were there, Charkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan,
[00:02:16] Delhi and Haryana as well as operations set up in Myanmar, Vietnam and China.
[00:02:21] Haryana leads in such cases followed by Telangana, Uttarakhand, Gujarat,
[00:02:25] and Goa. Delhi reported the highest number of cases among union territories with Chandigarh
[00:02:30] coming in 2nd and Puducheri 3rd. A decade ago, it was backward Jantara district in
[00:02:35] Charcan that was the cyber crime capital of India. Now, it's everywhere. The so-called
[00:02:40] new Jantara network lies at the tri-junction of Haryana Rajasthanen Uttar Pradesh.
[00:02:46] Cyber gangs are also said to be flourishing in Odisha, Bihar, Karnataka and Assam.
[00:02:51] So why is cyber crime on the rise?
[00:02:53] For starters, it's easy to set up a scam.
[00:02:55] All you need is a phone, a sim card and web access.
[00:02:59] Going internet penetration, cheap data and smartphones which are great advantages are
[00:03:03] also providing opportunities to scamsters. It is estimated that 840 million Indians have a digital presence and internet
[00:03:10] connections have risen by 250% over the past 9 years, alongside at least 500 million new bank
[00:03:16] accounts have been opened. Digital payments meanwhile are thriving with more than 10 billion
[00:03:22] recorded in August 2023 alone.
[00:03:25] This rising dependence on technology has given fraudsters an opening.
[00:03:29] They have managed to infiltrate all digital platforms from social networks to messaging
[00:03:33] apps and financial platforms.
[00:03:35] Here are some of the common scams.
[00:03:37] OTP Fraudsters trick users into parting with their OTP which is used for two-factor authentication.
[00:03:43] They pose as government agency or police officials send malware and even impersonate victims and banks. Such fraud
[00:03:49] can lead to financial losses and identity theft.
[00:03:53] UPI Request The crooks truck people into sending their money
[00:03:56] through the unified payments interface or UPI. They send fake money requests pretending
[00:04:01] to be actual businesses.
[00:04:03] Manned Account Deactivation This is a phishing scam.
[00:04:06] The fraudsters get people's personal and financial details by claiming that their bank
[00:04:10] account has been deactivated or has recorded suspicious activity.
[00:04:13] This is sometimes done through pre-recorded calls or texts.
[00:04:17] You are urged to call a number or click on a link to reactivate your account.
[00:04:20] When you call the number or click on the link, you are asked for financial details including
[00:04:24] passwords.
[00:04:25] KYC Updates.
[00:04:26] Fraudsters impersonate bank officials and ask customers to disclose their personal and
[00:04:31] financial details for KYC updates.
[00:04:33] Recently, India Post issued a warning advising users to refrain from forwarding such messages
[00:04:39] and clicking on unauthorized links.
[00:04:41] Electricity, payment, default.
[00:04:43] Consumers get fake texts, saying that power bill is unpaid and that their connection will
[00:04:47] be cut if they don't pay immediately.
[00:04:49] The scam is designed to make consumers panic.
[00:04:51] As soon as you click on the link, you open yourself to a security breach.
[00:04:55] Here are a few ways to stay safe.
[00:04:58] Never entertain a caller or click on a link unless you are fully verified them.
[00:05:02] Check the phone number, email addresses and domain names.
[00:05:10] Banks, the RBI and other financial organizations never ask for personal or financial information. So don't believe anyone who says they represent such organizations when they ask for such details.
[00:05:15] Never share your other number or pan credit card details or passwords through email or text.
[00:05:21] Use security software on your computers and phones.
[00:05:24] As we move rapidly towards a fully digitized future,
[00:05:27] our vulnerability to online fraud increases too.
[00:05:30] Make sure you're protecting yourself at all times.
[00:05:37] Thank you all for listening.
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