From Deepfakes From election campaigns to new financial scams, the cybercrime landscape is rapidly evolving. Here are some cases you can’t ignore
Every time you connect to the Internet, you run the risk of being spied on. Cyber bulliesThey can steal your personal information, hack your bank accounts and even ruin your reputation. Because they have the technology, they are also getting dangerously inventive – deepfakes and AI-enabled misinformation were at the centre of the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, between January 1, 2020 and May 15, 2023, citizens in Gujarat made 1.59 lakh applications on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP) or helpline number 1930.This means that there are 5,585 applications every month and on average one application comes in every 7.5 minutes. Only awareness can help you stay ahead of these cyber criminals and save yourself from becoming their next target.
1 Disguise: Fraudsters pose as bank officials or online shopping representatives and trick their victims into revealing their WhatsApp verification code or ask them to scan a QR code. This links the victim’s account to the fraudster’s device. They then exploit the compromised accounts to target contacts with requests for money, further compounding the scam.
2 AI Call: Scammers are now using AI to clone voices. Victims receive calls on the pretext of an emergency and the caller’s voice sounds like that of a relative/friend in distress. Victims are then asked to quickly transfer a large sum of money to help their loved ones.
3 ‘Power’ plays: The criminals pose as government officials and threaten victims that they will cut off power supply from public utilities if they do not pay the fake bills, causing fear and financial loss among them.
4 The Absolute Honor-Fool: Scammers pose as army officers and take advantage of victims’ respect for the armed forces and lure them into extorting money from them.
5 Questionable Policy: Fraudsters pretend to be employees of insurance companies and promise to help you close the policy and get the surrender value. They keep asking for money from you on the pretext of releasing the amount and once you transfer the money, they disappear.
6 ID scam: Cyber criminals obtain photo identity cards of people through agents who enroll citizens in various government schemes.
Using these documents, they obtain SIM cards to make calls to dupe people. Similarly, if you have not bothered to obtain copies of your identity documents from the bank officer after a failed attempt to obtain a bank card or personal loan, you too may be in similar trouble.
7. Deepfakes: Deepfake videos are created using AI tools that simulate faces. This involves studying pre-recorded video footage of a person and then applying their facial expressions to someone else using an AI-face swap tool.
8 Love Affairs: Posing as rich NRIs, the fraudsters lure unmarried people into sex with them and propose marriage to them. They then call their victims and tell them that they are at an Indian airport but they cannot leave the premises without paying some charges as they have foreign currency. The victims transfer the demanded money and the fraudsters disappear.
9 Badlapur: Cybercriminals create fake Instagram accounts and send friend requests to their victims to take revenge for abuse or humiliation. They lure them into obscene chats and exchange of nude pictures and later blackmail them or send the screenshots to the victim’s family.
10 Custom-Re Calls: Fraudsters posing as customs officials call people and tell them that a parcel in their name has been received containing drugs. They also send fake CBI letters and make video calls to gullible people to “settle the matter”. A few days ago, the Union Finance Ministry advised people to be cautious and said that customs officials never contact a person through phone or email asking him to deposit customs duty in personal accounts. Be cautious.
11. SIM Cloning: Fraudsters gain access to the phone’s data and clone it in several ways. They can use a SIM scanner, which is a small device that enables them to scan a phone from a short distance. Sometimes, fraudsters make people apply for a new SIM card by sending links, which the victims unknowingly click on. This helps the fraudsters to obtain important information from the victim’s mobile and copy their digital identity.
12 Farming: A type of attack in which victims are led to fraudulent websites or criminals manipulate victims’ computer systems to collect sensitive information. Be very careful when clicking on any links.
13. OTP Fraud: Criminals bypass OTP security and access bank customers’ accounts by asking them for OTP and steal money.
14 Crypto Frauds: Fake cryptocurrency callers create fake profiles of USDT traders and dupe people by luring them to sell USDT cryptocurrency at half the market price. Once the victims invest their money, the callers go out of contact.
15. Sybil problem: Cyber criminals are running a unique scheme under which victims’ CIBIL score is exploited and money is demanded to improve it.
16. Commission Fraud: Scammers lure netizens into making money from a movie-ticketing business. They are asked to watch and rate movies to buy tickets in bulk and earn a commission. But there’s a catch: they have to buy more tickets to earn a commission.
17 (Un)Lucky Draw: Criminals target individuals by hacking into their database based on their spending history, tricking them into believing they have won a prize and then siphoning off money from them.
18 Trafficking for Fraud: Syndicates lure young people with false promises of jobs abroad, especially in Cambodia, Laos and the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, and force them to work in call centres that engage in credit card fraud and fraudulent cryptocurrency investments through fake applications and honey trapping.
19. Recruitment Fraud: Cyber criminals exploit professionals by conducting fake interviews and demanding payments to register for non-existent jobs. The money is gone, along with the promised job and fictitious salary package.
20 Stock Shock: Stock market junkies are lured into investing in stocks that are likely to hit an ‘upper circuit’ and are promised good returns. They are asked to download links. They invest lakhs, but do not get any money back.
21. Edu Loan Fraud: Dubious firms “employ” students from campus and misuse their documents to obtain education loans without their knowledge. Apart from irregular salaries, they also face a huge financial crisis in the form of EMIs for loans they never took.
22 Sextortion: The cyber criminals click screenshots of their nude forms as well as the faces of the hapless victims who pick up their calls. They then disconnect the call and use the screenshots to extort money from the victims, including women.
23 Information Bites Back: Young people post every little detail about their lives on social media, including videos and pictures of their hangouts, which can become a centre of attraction for cyber criminals.
Criminals take advantage of these posts to dupe parents and falsely claim that a crime has been registered against their children.
Every time you connect to the Internet, you run the risk of being spied on. Cyber bulliesThey can steal your personal information, hack your bank accounts and even ruin your reputation. Because they have the technology, they are also getting dangerously inventive – deepfakes and AI-enabled misinformation were at the centre of the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, between January 1, 2020 and May 15, 2023, citizens in Gujarat made 1.59 lakh applications on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP) or helpline number 1930.This means that there are 5,585 applications every month and on average one application comes in every 7.5 minutes. Only awareness can help you stay ahead of these cyber criminals and save yourself from becoming their next target.
1 Disguise: Fraudsters pose as bank officials or online shopping representatives and trick their victims into revealing their WhatsApp verification code or ask them to scan a QR code. This links the victim’s account to the fraudster’s device. They then exploit the compromised accounts to target contacts with requests for money, further compounding the scam.
2 AI Call: Scammers are now using AI to clone voices. Victims receive calls on the pretext of an emergency and the caller’s voice sounds like that of a relative/friend in distress. Victims are then asked to quickly transfer a large sum of money to help their loved ones.
3 ‘Power’ plays: The criminals pose as government officials and threaten victims that they will cut off power supply from public utilities if they do not pay the fake bills, causing fear and financial loss among them.
4 The Absolute Honor-Fool: Scammers pose as army officers and take advantage of victims’ respect for the armed forces and lure them into extorting money from them.
5 Questionable Policy: Fraudsters pretend to be employees of insurance companies and promise to help you close the policy and get the surrender value. They keep asking for money from you on the pretext of releasing the amount and once you transfer the money, they disappear.
6 ID scam: Cyber criminals obtain photo identity cards of people through agents who enroll citizens in various government schemes.
Using these documents, they obtain SIM cards to make calls to dupe people. Similarly, if you have not bothered to obtain copies of your identity documents from the bank officer after a failed attempt to obtain a bank card or personal loan, you too may be in similar trouble.
7. Deepfakes: Deepfake videos are created using AI tools that simulate faces. This involves studying pre-recorded video footage of a person and then applying their facial expressions to someone else using an AI-face swap tool.
8 Love Affairs: Posing as rich NRIs, the fraudsters lure unmarried people into sex with them and propose marriage to them. They then call their victims and tell them that they are at an Indian airport but they cannot leave the premises without paying some charges as they have foreign currency. The victims transfer the demanded money and the fraudsters disappear.
9 Badlapur: Cybercriminals create fake Instagram accounts and send friend requests to their victims to take revenge for abuse or humiliation. They lure them into obscene chats and exchange of nude pictures and later blackmail them or send the screenshots to the victim’s family.
10 Custom-Re Calls: Fraudsters posing as customs officials call people and tell them that a parcel in their name has been received containing drugs. They also send fake CBI letters and make video calls to gullible people to “settle the matter”. A few days ago, the Union Finance Ministry advised people to be cautious and said that customs officials never contact a person through phone or email asking him to deposit customs duty in personal accounts. Be cautious.
11. SIM Cloning: Fraudsters gain access to the phone’s data and clone it in several ways. They can use a SIM scanner, which is a small device that enables them to scan a phone from a short distance. Sometimes, fraudsters make people apply for a new SIM card by sending links, which the victims unknowingly click on. This helps the fraudsters to obtain important information from the victim’s mobile and copy their digital identity.
12 Farming: A type of attack in which victims are led to fraudulent websites or criminals manipulate victims’ computer systems to collect sensitive information. Be very careful when clicking on any links.
13. OTP Fraud: Criminals bypass OTP security and access bank customers’ accounts by asking them for OTP and steal money.
14 Crypto Frauds: Fake cryptocurrency callers create fake profiles of USDT traders and dupe people by luring them to sell USDT cryptocurrency at half the market price. Once the victims invest their money, the callers go out of contact.
15. Sybil problem: Cyber criminals are running a unique scheme under which victims’ CIBIL score is exploited and money is demanded to improve it.
16. Commission Fraud: Scammers lure netizens into making money from a movie-ticketing business. They are asked to watch and rate movies to buy tickets in bulk and earn a commission. But there’s a catch: they have to buy more tickets to earn a commission.
17 (Un)Lucky Draw: Criminals target individuals by hacking into their database based on their spending history, tricking them into believing they have won a prize and then siphoning off money from them.
18 Trafficking for Fraud: Syndicates lure young people with false promises of jobs abroad, especially in Cambodia, Laos and the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, and force them to work in call centres that engage in credit card fraud and fraudulent cryptocurrency investments through fake applications and honey trapping.
19. Recruitment Fraud: Cyber criminals exploit professionals by conducting fake interviews and demanding payments to register for non-existent jobs. The money is gone, along with the promised job and fictitious salary package.
20 Stock Shock: Stock market junkies are lured into investing in stocks that are likely to hit an ‘upper circuit’ and are promised good returns. They are asked to download links. They invest lakhs, but do not get any money back.
21. Edu Loan Fraud: Dubious firms “employ” students from campus and misuse their documents to obtain education loans without their knowledge. Apart from irregular salaries, they also face a huge financial crisis in the form of EMIs for loans they never took.
22 Sextortion: The cyber criminals click screenshots of their nude forms as well as the faces of the hapless victims who pick up their calls. They then disconnect the call and use the screenshots to extort money from the victims, including women.
23 Information Bites Back: Young people post every little detail about their lives on social media, including videos and pictures of their hangouts, which can become a centre of attraction for cyber criminals.
Criminals take advantage of these posts to dupe parents and falsely claim that a crime has been registered against their children.
