Cybercrime Financial News

Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service team of technologists once provided support to a cybercrime gang that bragged about trafficking in stolen data and cyberstalking an FBI agent, according to digital records reviewed by Reuters. Edward Coristine is among the most visible members of the DOGE effort that has been given sweeping access to official networks as it attempts to radically downsize the US government. Past reporting had focused on his youth — he is 19 — and his chosen nickname of «bigballs,» which became a pop culture punchline. Musk turned championed the teen on his social media site X, telling his followers last month that «Big Balls is awesome.»

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s banking regulator has asked digital payments facilitator the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to look into rising complaints of erroneous UPI Autopay debits, three people aware of the matter told Mint. Users of the Unified Payments Interface—a real-time instant payment system developed by the NPCI—began reporting involuntary autopay mandates and an inability to cancel such recurring payments towards the end of 2025.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. PARIS—French authorities raided the Paris office of Elon Musk’s X and summoned the billionaire for a “voluntary interview," a major escalation of European regulators’ battles with the social-media platform. Cybercrime prosecutors said Tuesday that they were searching X’s office as part of a sprawling investigation first opened early last year.

Rajab Butt, one of Pakistan’s most prominent social media figures, is now at the centre of a blasphemy case. The controversy erupted after he launched a fragrance called «295,» directly referencing the blasphemy section of Pakistan’s penal code. A video promoting the perfume, now deleted from his accounts, quickly drew backlash. TLP leader Haider Ali Shah Gillani filed a formal complaint against Butt on Monday. “Our religious sentiments have been hurt,” he said. “There are numerous sections in the penal code, but why did he choose blasphemy-related sections to name a perfume?” Speaking to AFP, he added, “This means you acknowledge the offence and are celebrating it. This is essentially an attempt to normalise such actions.”

In addition, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), which functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has proactively identified and blocked more than 3,962 Skype IDs and 83,668 WhatsApp accounts used for digital arrest, the minister said. «The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, under the I4C, has been launched in 2021 for immediate reporting of financial frauds and stopping siphoning off funds by fraudsters. So far, around Rs 4,386 crore have been saved in more than 13.36 lakh complaints,» Kumar said in the reply. As part of the 14C, a national cybercrime reporting portal (https://cybercrime.gov.in) has been launched to enable public to report incidents pertaining to all types of digital crimes, with special focus on crimes against women and children, the minister said. He said the crimes reported on this portal, their conversion into FIRs and subsequent action are handled by law enforcement agencies in the states and Union Territories concerned.

NIA is probing foreign links to terror acts, human trafficking and terror financing emanating from foreign soil, minister of state for home Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Referring to NIA (Amendment) Act, 2019, he said the agency has been empowered to investigate terrorist acts on Indian missions. In reply to supplementary questions during Question Hour, Rai said during the investigation of cases in the last year, NIA found that the accused were based outside India's borders.

scam text messages about unpaid tolls is sweeping across the U.S., deceiving thousands into sharing personal and financial information. This scam, known as «smishing,» blends «SMS» (text messaging) with «phishing,» a cybercrime where fraudsters impersonate trusted sources to steal sensitive data. In 2024 alone, the FBI logged over 60,000 complaints related to this scam—a number that may be just the tip of the iceberg. As highways transition to cashless tolls, scammers are taking advantage of the shift, exploiting unsuspecting drivers with alarming messages.

Delhi Police is introducing a merit-based examination for appointing Station House Officers (SHOs), marking a shift from the traditional system based on seniority and experience. For the first time, officers will be selected through a competitive process, starting with Cyber Police Stations, which handle digital crimes in the capital.

Cybercriminals have registered more than 10,000 malicious domains to fuel these scams, which impersonate unpaid toll bills or missed delivery notifications. Victims receive urgent texts claiming they owe payments, complete with links to fake websites designed to steal credit card details, bank information, and personal data for identity theft.

Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) to tackle the growing problem of financial frauds.

PMO) has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to strictly enforce mandatory biometric Aadhaar verification before sale of mobile connections across India as part of the government's efforts to combat cybercrime and digital fraud, and rein in abuse of national telecom resources.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As Generative AI (GenAI) transforms business operations, it is also escalating cyber threats. Sophisticated cyberattacks leveraging AI-powered deepfakes, phishing, data manipulation, and malware are on the rise.

As many as 59% of the Indian organisations surveyed said that they had faced financial or economic frauds in the past 24 months, compared with 41% globally and 52% in the 2022 edition of the same survey. The survey said procurement fraud has emerged as a predominant issue for Indian businesses, with 50% of the respondents identifying it as a major problem. This marks a 21% increase over the global average. In 2022, however, customer fraud was reported as the top concern by 47% of businesses. Meanwhile, globally, 44% of business leaders' highlighted cybercrime as their top concern.

economic fraud in the past 24 months, according to PwC's 'Global Economic Crime Survey 2024 — India Outlook. This marks an 18 per cent increase compared to the global average of 41 per cent and a 7 per cent rise within India since the 2022 survey, PwC India highlighted. The latest findings highlight procurement fraud as the top threat for Indian businesses, with 50 per cent of respondents identifying it as a major issue. This reflects a significant 21 per cent jump compared to global concerns. In contrast, customer fraud, which was the leading issue for 47 per cent of Indian businesses in 2022, has been overtaken.

«At least 20% of cybercrimes in India involve the usage of the dark web by online attackers,» the study conducted by Lisianthus Tech said. The attackers used the dark web for cybercrimes like data breaches, hacking, phishing, ransomware, identity theft, sale and purchase of banned products like narcotics and weapons.

cyber scams by June, up from Rs 175 crore during the same period in 2023. Investigators disclosed that criminals are using more advanced methods to avoid detection and launder stolen funds. A prevalent tactic involves spreading the stolen money across multiple digital wallets, complicating efforts by law enforcement to trace the funds' origin. This swift distribution prevents authorities from targeting the original account from which the money was transferred. To further complicate matters, the criminals often withdraw the funds through multiple ATMs, further obscuring the money trail. Additionally, they exploit the bank accounts of vulnerable individuals, such as those living in poverty or with limi ted financial literacy. By offering small sums of money, they acquire access to these accounts and use them as conduits for transferring the stolen funds. “Even if the investigators follow the money trail and reach the account holder, they will never get to know who the real mastermind of the scam is. The person who allowed the use of his or her bank account get arrested,” one investigator said.

Kalyan Roy, a resident of Thakurmura village, Tripura (located at the Bangladesh border). The arrest led to the recovery of Rs 2.40 lakh, said the Cybercrime unit of Delhi Police. According to the Cybercrime unit's statement, the complainant, Sunil Verma, alleged that in September 2021, he came in contact with a foreign woman (American) on Facebook. The woman later sent him a WhatsApp message, claiming to be sending gold jewelry, mobile phones, laptops, and a few thousand American dollars through a courier. She requested him to accept these items on her behalf. The statement from Delhi Police's Cybercrime unit continued: «In October 2021, the complainant received a call from someone claiming to be a delivery partner, stating that a parcel containing precious items was lying at the courier office in his name. The caller requested a fee to release the parcel.»

Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed concern over the potential threats generated on account of digital frauds, cybercrimes and AI technology, particularly the potential of deepfake to disrupt social and familial relations. Addressing the concluding session of the 59th All India Conference of Director Generals/Inspector Generals of Police, the prime minister also called for the use of technology to reduce the workload of the police constabulary and suggested that the police station be made the focal point for resource allocation. Deliberations were held on emerging security concerns along the border with Bangladesh and Myanmar, trends in urban policing and strategies for countering malicious narratives, according to an official statement. In-depth discussions were held on existing and emerging challenges to national security, including counter-terrorism, leftwing extremism, cybercrime, economic security, immigration, coastal security and narco-trafficking.

TRAI has intensified its efforts to combat the growing issue of cybercrime, particularly involving fake calls and fraudulent messages. To address these concerns, new rules were introduced on 1 October, requiring telecom providers to establish a system for tracking the origins of bulk messages.