The Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu has witnessed an increase in online crimes after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Particularly, a total of 400 cybercrime cases were registered in the last four months and 960 complaints were reported in the district from April 2021.
According to police sources, victims had lost a total of Rs 4.75 crore, while Rs 15.40 lakh has been recovered and others were frozen. Compared to 2021, complaints about cybercrimes have been on a drastic rise in 2022 in the state.
In Tamil Nadu, when Covid-19 culminated in March 2020, almost all businesses were advised to work from home. As a result, the online fraudsters used the situation to their advantage, targeting people who work online for 8 to 12 hours on daily basis, posting fake links to them, posting details on their website in the hope of giving them fake bank loans, stealing bank accounts and using fake social media pages to make morphed/pornographic images.
Meanwhile, cybercrimes have increased in the industrial city of Krishnagiri, wherein, in the last four months alone, 400 crimes have been reported. As much as Rs 2.50 crore was lost to online frauds in this period, while Rs 18.67 lakh was frozen and Rs 7.58 lakh was repaid to the concerned complainants. Of the 598 petitions received in 2021, 541 were registered through NCRP and 58 cases were filed at the cybercrime wing at the Krishnagiri district police office.
Eventually, the money laundering gangs are constantly innovating and committing such crimes– that includes fake customer service center call, online employment, doubling money if invested online, bank account update SMS, online bank loans, bank loan in minutes if details are registered, WhatsApp video call fraud, giving away free gift items from abroad, likewise, fraudulent gangs have been involved in variety of scams including online gaming fraud.
How online crimes are taking place? What kind of technology fraudsters use? Here’s what cyber experts giving alert:
Fake customer service maintenance fraud
Money frauds such as bank card renewal, Google pay, Phonepe, Paytm have been reported in Krishnagiri district in 2021. The victims of such scams are those who are highly educated and those who work without sparing time to go to bank. Fraudulent gangs download remote desktop apps such as Any desk, QS App on their computer and taking information from victim’s computer, laptop, mobile phone without permission and thereby stealing bank details and engaging in money laundering.
Online part-time work and online investment fraud
The scam is being perpetrated through fake advertisements claiming part-time employments online and doubling the profit if investments are done online. In Krishnagiri, 150 people were affected and lost Rs 35 lakh in such complaints last year. Often these crimes target young people looking for online jobs, married women at home relying on fake advertisements that they think they can earn everyday from home.
Fraudulent SMS via KYC Renewal
It is also possible to steal information from our mobile phones by clicking on a fake link from a fake mobile number having Aadhaar and Pan card connection, ATM renewal, etc. In this, senior citizens are the hardest hit. It is also to be noted here that information such as KYC update is not sent to customers through mobile link from any bank.
WhatsApp video call fraud
When accepting incoming calls from an unidentified number to someone’s WhatsApp mobile number, reportedly, ones face will be scanned and the face will be displayed with someone else’s pornographic image and extort money, threatening to upload it on social media if they do not pay. Such scams often target unmarried men, women and college-aged teenagers.
Engaging in money laundering by claiming to give a foreign gift
Unidentified individuals befriend friends on social media claiming to have sent expensive gift items from abroad. Although 15 cases have been registered so far in this type of fraud, up to Rs 60 lakh has been reportedly embezzled, the police said.
Despite increase in cybercrimes in Krishnagiri district, it is shocking to see that so far only six accused have been arrested and are currently in judicial custody while 95 per cent of the cyber criminals are from the northern states (Mumbai, Delhi, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat). Of the six people arrested in Krishnagiri district, only one was from Tamil Nadu.
Krishnagiri district Cyber Crime Deputy Superintendent of Police Sangu said that the public should immediately lodge a complaint with police station when encountering such crimes. He also said that if the public is a victim of such scams, they can call the police 24-hour toll free number 1930 or visit www.cybercrime.gov.in to lodge their complaints.
It is not only Krishnagiri, state capital Chennai has recorded a 1,648 per cent rise in cybercrime complaints over the past 10 years. According to State Home Department policy note, “The number has jumped from 748 complaints in 2011 to 13,077 in 2021. The rise may be attributed to digitization, internet penetration and wide use of mobile phones among people.” A senior officer from cybercrime team said, “In online crimes, it is almost impossible to get back the money once an investigation crosses the golden hour, first 24 hours”.
Through efforts of cybercrime squad, Rs 6.75 crore has been retrieved over the last few months. The State Cyber Crime Wing Headquarters has also blocked 531 websites, 23 YouTube videos, 59 Facebook pages and profiles, 17 Instagram profiles and 32 Google play sites that are fake/fraudulent in nature, the policy note said.
(with inputs from Krishnagiri reporter Kumaresan)
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