India Phishing Scam: False Sex Crime Accusations

The Indian government has issued a high-level warning to the public over several fake and fraudulent emails that have been sent by fraudsters to defraud many people. A phishing scam is currently underway in India, warns a statement from the country’s finance ministry.

According to the ministry, scammers send e-mails containing an attachment in the form of a letter in which the recipients are accused of child pornography, paedophilia, cyberpornography, exhibitionism, seduction, etc.

Beware of phishing scams: Indian govt warns citizens

The letter in circulation contains the names, signatures and stamps of various authorities accusing the addressee of sexual offences. The names of prominent authorities mentioned in the letter include Sandeep Khirwar, ADG, Cyber ​​​​Crime and Economic Offence, Delhi Police Headquarters, Delhi and Anupam Prakash, Joint Secretary (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act), Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), along with the stamps and logos of CEIB, Intelligence Bureau and Cyber ​​​​Cell, Delhi.

Sharing the email attachment, the ministry said, “The fraudsters used different email addresses to send the above-mentioned fake emails with the attachment. The police authorities have been notified to take necessary action in this regard.”

The attachment in the fake email contains reference to Section 14 of the POCSO Act, 2012, Section 292, Section 67A and Section 67B of the IT Act, 2000. The letter asks the recipient to reply to the letter and “justify further review”, failing which sanctions may be imposed within 24 hours.

The government has asked citizens not to respond to such emails and report such cases to the nearest police station/cyber police station.

“The recipient of such an email should be aware of this attempted fraud. The public is advised that such emails with an attachment should not be replied to and such cases can be reported to the nearest police station/cyber police station,” the statement reads.

India ranks third globally for reported phishing scams: Report

According to a cybersecurity report by Zscaler, India ranked third in the world in terms of the number of phishing attempts in 2023. The report states that around 79.1 million phishing attempts were recorded.

The UN Special Committee on Cybercrime has called for special attention to the problem of phishing, calling it “the most prevalent cybercrime in the world”.

To combat phishing, India has proposed a “24×7 global communication channel” between countries. According to this report Economic timesIndia’s proposal considered current measures against cybercrime to be “insufficient”. To address the issue, the country proposed facilitating information sharing between law enforcement agencies across countries to “quickly disable access to phishing links and identify misused IT resources and malicious actors”.

How to protect yourself from phishing scams?

With the right knowledge and tools, you can arm yourself against these phishing attacks. Here are some practical steps you can take to protect your digital identity and assets.

• Get an education: Learn how phishing works and what tricks attackers use.
• Think before you click: Take your time! Check email addresses and hover over links to see the real URLs before clicking. Verify suspicious emails with the sender through a trusted channel.
• Use multi-factor authentication (MFA): Even if your password is stolen, multi-factor authentication takes an extra step (like entering a code into your phone) to block unauthorized access.
• Update your software regularly: Outdated software has security holes. Update your operating system, web browser, and antivirus software to patch the holes. Consider real-time antivirus scanning for added protection.
• Trust your intuition: If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t! Don’t let pressure or fear cloud your judgment. Verify everything before sharing sensitive information or making financial transactions.
• Reporting phishing attempts: Help protect others. Report suspicious emails to your email provider, bank, or cybersecurity agencies.

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