FRAUDALERT
As security and privacy experts have repeatedly warned us, scammers and tech-savvy fraudsters constantly come up with new ways to crack the system, bypass security systems or find new ways to defraud people with a combination of technology and psychographics.

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Many of you may not have even heard the name of Ravisutanjani Kumar, a social media influencer, who was followed on X (erstwhile Twitter) by none other than the prime minister (PM) himself and had a very impressive list of clients.

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In our rapidly changing world, governments worldwide have embarked on ambitious endeavours to try and use digital modes for providing services to citizens. While these efforts are commendable in terms of efficiency and accessibility, a glaring concern that often goes unnoticed is the inadequate security and privacy protection measures in these systems.

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These days, the government's answer to fixing all wrongdoings and violations is to find a technical solution. It does not matter if the solution is logical or not. In the past few years, every government department and regulator has launched, what they believe, are massive, miraculous solutions and publicised them with a media blitzkrieg that is pitched to ordinary citizens as a series of masterstrokes after another.

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Technology is a double-edged sword; it improves lives in myriad ways but, on the flip side, it often hurts the underprivileged in multiple ways. Take the case of digital fraud, where a set of victims lose Rs500 each.Technology is a double-edged sword; it improves lives in myriad ways but, on the flip side, it often hurts the underprivileged in multiple ways. Take the case of digital fraud, where a set of victims loses Rs500 each.

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Technology, and all it has done to improve our lives, is definitely a boon but it is a double-edged sword unless you are careful. In a digital era, where information is primarily exchanged through the internet, it has also provided cybercriminals anonymity and expansive reach.

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There is nothing like visiting a government office or a public sector bank (PSB) to cut your ego down to keep your feet on the ground. Employees there rarely have the time to acknowledge you, let alone your 'aura' or 'high rank'. Such experiences are enlightening!

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A few weeks after the monsoon reaches its full majesty, most of us begin the annual ritual of scrambling to meet the 31st July deadline to file income tax returns (ITRs). There is a new ritual that has come up after this deadline is over -- we begin to get bombarded with messages and emails about income tax refunds due to us. Unfortunately, these are from cybercriminals looking to trip you up by pretending to be the tax department. The scam operates by trying to get the taxpayer either to 'apply' or to verify something by clicking on the link sent in an email.

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Several messages doing the rounds on social media are promising 'guaranteed returns with minimum or zero effort' to ensnare unsuspecting victims who often have no clue as to how they are being duped by organised cyber criminals. It is yet another example of how easy it is to dupe people using the twin psychological tools – fear or greed.

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Smartphones were expected to ease the lives of users by making it easy to access goods and services -- be it government compliances, financial investments, entertainment or shopping. Unfortunately, every seller or service provider decided to create an app that they try and compel users to download.

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The political atmosphere in India has become so uncertain and unpredictable that it has created a fertile ground for scamsters to fool elected representatives and their loyal supporters just as easily as they fool ordinary people.

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Every year, we first hear prayers for a bountiful monsoon. After a few weeks, the prayers turn into the nursery rhyme, 'Rain Rain Go Away' as people struggle with the usual issues of water logging and potholes on the roads. All this is reported in newspapers and on TV channels on a cyclical basis. If you watch carefully, confidence tricks and scams, now graduated to cyberspace, follow a similar pattern.

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Just like the rains come every year, followed by news reports about water logging at several places, cybercrime stories are also about old scams or cheating modules being recycled to dupe new persons. For example, every few months, scammers try to lure people with promises to change the colour of their WhatsApp.

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You are rushing to reach somewhere, and suddenly you receive a message, either as email, SMS or chat, asking you to click the URL for something. The URL may look like an authentic one from your bank. You will be surprised to know that what you see, may not actually be genuine. In fact, it is so hard to detect that it is extremely worrisome.

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The first quarter of 2023 saw a notable rise in cyberattacks; phishing and smishing attempts were exceptionally high and saw a 40% increase in their share of overall cyberattacks. These attacks—including malware, scams, and phishing—aim to steal consumers' sensitive personal information like login IDs, passwords, card details, and bank account details.

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The internet is one of the most significant innovations of all time and has impacted everyone's life. The march of technology and technological innovation has been so rapid that people were thrown onto the internet wagon without choice, training or awareness about its advantages and dangers. Indians were especially affected since we went from poor telephone coverage to high-speed tech saturation.

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Forget about the organised and large-scale duping or cheating of people that emanates from scam clusters such as Jamtara or Mewat, cybercrime today is a sophisticated business that regularly updates itself and its tools. Using the latest malware or trojans, new-age cybercriminals manage to stay a jump ahead of reputed cybersecurity experts and companies providing security suits. The middle and top management of Kaspersky, a well-known name in security software, was recently under a 'professional' attack using an invisible iMessage with a malicious attachment. This extremely technologically sophisticated spyware is called 'Triangulation' by Kaspersky. I will explain this in detail later.

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One evening, Prasad (name changed) was busy winding up his routine work at the accounts department of Flagwell Pvt Ltd, (name changed) when he saw a new WhatsApp message.

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With 1.17bn (billion) subscribers, India has emerged as the second-largest telecom ecosystem in the world. In addition to communication, Indians use mobile devices for banking, entertainment, e-learning, healthcare, and government services. However, the unchecked growth with minimum user verification has led to a sharp rise in cyberfrauds using mobile phones.

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Ever since the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) created Aadhaar as a unique biometric identity for residents, it has dismissed all doubts and queries by being in permanent 'denial mode'. Moneylife has been reporting, analysing and highlighting issues with Aadhaar through hundreds of articles, even before its formal launch as the brainchild of tech-czar Nandan Nilekani.

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