Received letter claiming you are watching child porn from MHA? Here is the truth behind it

Ministry of Home Affairs's cyber-safety and cybersecurity awareness handle recently flagged concern over a fake letter circulating on social media, claiming to be from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) CEO Rajesh Kumar. The fraudulent letter accuses the recipient of engaging in child pornography and pedophilia, among others.

“In a letter purportedly issued by Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C), several allegations are being levelled at the recipient & a reply is being sought to the letter,” Cyber Dost said in a post it reshared on Wednesday (August 21).

“This letter is #fake. No such letter has been issued by any organisation under GOI #I4C #MHA,” the post added.

What does the letter say?

The content on the ‘fake’ letter is similar to the photo that Cyber Dost has shared but the signatories are different. Moreover, the letter seems to have two mastheads – one from the Ministry of Home Affairs and other from “The Indian Police Service, Office of the Additional Director General of Police (ADG)”, reported ToI.

The accompanying email said, “By the mandate of Sh. Sandeep Khirwar the Additional Director General, ADG Headquarter and the Cyber Crime & Economic Offense Department has conducted an analysis of your internet protocol. This analysis revealed that you have been secretly accessing juvenile pornographic websites through your office or home internet.”

“The Ministry of Home Affairs works closely with the Special Cell of Delhi Police and is a specialised unit that handles all complex and sensitive cases of cybercrime including those in which victims are women and children,” it added.

The email mentioned that the department's advanced digital forensics labs are equipped to detect any access to child pornography websites, recover deleted data, and analyze various devices. It also warned that legal action will be taken if the notice is not addressed within 24 hours of receipt.

What should one do after receving the letter?

Scammers are using advanced techniques to trick people, hence it is advised that users must stay calm and don't panic. For any Cyber Crime complaint, report to: https://cybercrime.gov.in.

(with ToI inputs)