New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Wednesday blocked over 100 websites involved in “organised investment and task-based part-time job frauds”, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
These blocked websites allegedly spam people with messages like “Earn Rs 10,000 daily from the comfort of your home”.
According to Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit (NCTAU), a vertical of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) identified and recommended banning of over 100 websites involved in these job frauds, in a bid to build a “cyber safe India”. Following the recommendations, the MeitY invoked its power under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and blocked these websites, an MHA official said.
I4C is an initiative of the MHA to deal with cybercrime in the country in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.
According to the MHA officer, the blocked websites — facilitating task-based and illegal investment-related economic crimes — were learnt to be operated by “overseas actors” using digital advertisement, chat messengers and rented accounts.
The officer added that it was also learnt that proceeds from the large-scale economic frauds were laundered out of India using card networks, crypto currency, overseas ATM withdrawals and international Fintech companies.
In the past year, numerous unsuspecting individuals have fallen victim to these fraudulent offers, which are currently under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). According to the officer several such complaints were received through the MHA’s 1930 cybercrime helpline, following which the action was taken.
“MHA is committed to curbing cybercrime and protecting people from cyber threat actors. Citizens are also advised to promptly report phone numbers and social media handles used by such fraudsters to the NCRP [National Cybercrime Reporting Portal] www.cybercrime.gov.in,” said a statement issued by the MHA Wednesday.
Threat to citizens, data security concerns
The MHA said that these economic frauds are posing a serious threat to the citizens and also involved data security concerns.
Operating through numerous WhatsApp numbers, scamsters sitting in India and abroad allegedly lure individuals with false promises of employment and defraud them of money in various ways. The money made is then allegedly routed through shell companies and laundered, ThePrint has learnt.
According to CBI sources, these kind of job frauds represent one of the biggest “cyber-enabled money-laundering frauds” in India.
In October, the agency conducted raids at various locations across India as part of “Operation Chakra 2”, designed to “combat and dismantle organised cyber-enabled financial crimes”.
An FIR in connection with job frauds was registered last year with the CBI, after it received information about a significant number of innocent citizens being duped of money with promises of investment and part-time job opportunities.
As the CBI delved deeper, it uncovered a highly intricate racket involving multiple layers and advanced technology. Operation Chakra was conducted in collaboration with national and international agencies, including the US’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), CBI sources said.
These frauds, MHA said, have a pattern that all citizens should be aware of.
According to the MHA officer quoted above, as a first step, these companies launch targeted digital advertisements on platforms like Google and Meta using keywords like “Ghar baithe job” (get a job from home), “Ghar baidhe kamai kaise karen” (how to work wonder from home) etc in multiple languages from overseas advertisers, to lure people.
Their targets, the officer said, are mostly retired employees, women and unemployed youth looking for part-time jobs.
“Upon clicking [on] the advertisement, an agent using WhatsApp or Telegram starts conversation with the potential victim, who convinces them to perform some tasks like Video Likes and Subscribe, Maps Rating,” the officer said.
He added: “Upon completion of a task, the victim is given some commission initially and is asked to invest more to get more returns against the given task”.
After gaining confidence, when the victim deposits larger sums, deposits are frozen and the victim is duped, the officer explained.
‘Exercise due diligence’
The MHA in its statement said that the people need to be made aware of this threat and be told to exercise due diligence before investing in any such very high commission paying online schemes sponsored over the internet.
“If an unknown person contacts you over WhatsApp or Telegram, refrain from performing financial transactions without verification,” the statement said.
It further said that the people must verify the name of the receiver mentioned in UPI App.
“If receiver is any random person, it may be a mule account and the scheme may be fraudulent. Similarly, check the source from where initial commission is received,” the statement said.
It further added that citizens should refrain from doing transactions with unknown accounts, as these could be involved in money laundering and even terror financing and lead to the blocking of accounts by police and other legal action.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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