India blocks 1,700 Skype IDs, 59,000 WhatsApp accounts used for 'digital arrests' and other frauds
WhatsApp earlier contended that "Requiring messaging apps to 'trace' chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp, which would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people's right to privacy." Photograph:( Others )
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This comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the police leadership to focus on the digital frauds taking place in the country and how the scamsters were duping people with the help of artificial intelligence
This comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the police leadership to focus on the digital frauds taking place in the country and how the scamsters were duping people with the help of artificial intelligence
In a significant move to combat online frauds such as 'digital arrests', the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), a wing of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), identified and blocked over 1,700 Skype IDs and a whopping 59,000 WhatsApp accounts.
As per MHA, these accounts were being used by scamsters for digital fraud.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar highlighted the effectiveness of the 'Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System' that was launched in the year 2021, as it reports swift reporting of financial frauds and prevents fraudsters from siphoning off funds.
Kumar said that over Rs 3,431 crore has so far been saved via this initiative and over 994,000 complaints have been addressed.
“The central government has launched a comprehensive awareness programme on digital arrest which, inter-alia, include; newspaper advertisement on digital arrest scam, announcement in Delhi metros on digital arrest and other modus operandi of cyber criminals, use of social media influencers to create special posts on digital arrest, campaign about digital arrest through Prasar Bharti and electronic media, special programme on Aakashvani on digital arrest...”, the MHA said in a written response in the Lok Sabha, as per Indian media reports.
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“I4C (has) proactively identified and blocked more than 1,700 Skype IDs and 59,000 WhatsApp accounts used for digital arrest,” it said.
This comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the police leadership to focus on the digital frauds taking place in the country.
He highlighted how the scamsters were duping people with the help of artificial intelligence, while speaking at a recent DGPs/IGPs conference in Bhubaneswar.
The MHA said that it issued a press release to the general public to make them aware of the incidents of ‘blackmail’ and ‘digital arrest’ by scamsters who were pretending to be officers of state police, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other law enforcement agencies.
(With inputs from agencies)
