Government rescues 360 Indians forced into committing cyber fraud

New Delhi: The Union home ministry along with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has rescued 360 Indians so far, and 60 more are being brought back from Cambodia where they were employed in fraudulent employments by gangs operating to target Indians in cybercrime using investment apps, dating apps, gaming apps, among others.

Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) CEO, Rajesh Kumar said, "Based on analysis of the data from National Cybercrime Reporting Portal of I4C, various inputs received from states and Union territories, and open-source information, I4C has observed there is a significant rise in number of cybercrime incidents targeting India originating from Southeast Asian Region, mainly from countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos PDR."

While taking cognisance of the protest on May 20 in a suspected scam compound in Sihanouk city, Cambodia, involving Indian nationals employed in the suspected scam compound, the Embassy of India in Phnom Penh has taken necessary measures to ensure the safety and well-being of the Indian citizens involved in this incident, Kumar said, adding that 60 Indians who were part of protest are being brought back to India.


Explaining their modus operandi, Kumar explained that these cybercrime operations based in these countries employ a comprehensive array of deceptive strategies, including recruitment efforts by exploiting social media to lure Indian youths with fake employment opportunities. These individuals are then compelled to engage in various cyber scams such as investment, pig butchering, trading apps and dating, often communicating via messaging platforms using Indian SIM cards to target Indian nationals. The illicit gains from these activities are laundered through sophisticated financial channels, including Indian bank accounts, cryptocurrency transactions, and cash withdrawals across various countries.

I4C and state law enforcement agencies have frozen a total of 3.25 lakh mule bank accounts, more than 3,000 URLs and 595 apps, 1,500 skype accounts have been blocked in the last 4 months. The agencies have further blocked 5.3 lakhs SIM cards and 80,848 IMEIs.