Cybercrime Cases Surge In Mumbai: Share Market Frauds Top List As Police Warn Of New Scams

Mumbai: The statistics provided by the city police have revealed that most cybercrime cases registered between January and May were related to share market investment fraud (399). Earlier this month, the Free Press Journal reported that there has been a significant increase in online share investment fraud.

The state cyber police recently issued an alert, warning citizens against a unique modus operandi used by cyber criminals. According to the police, some of the common scams are digital arrest, investment trickery, sextortion, and phishing.

Details

According to the statistics, 1841 cybercrime cases have been registered this year, so far. Of them, 393 cases have been detected, with the arrest of 363 people. As per the data, credit/debit card online fraud (169) is the second-highest cybercrime reported in the last five months. It was followed by online job fraud (154), investment fraud (100), obscene email, SMS/MMS/post (100), digital arrest (92), and fake social media profile/morphing email (76).

Other most reported cases this year are online purchase fraud (45), fake website (44), hacking (32), crypto fraud (26), phishing/man-in-the-middle attack/spoofing mail (23), sextortion 22), Customs gift fraud (19), loan scam (18) and data theft (17). Further analysis of the statistics revealed that the least number of cases registered this year were related to admission fraud (one), pornography and communal post (six each), matrimonial fraud (11), and insurance/ provident fund fraud (13).

“Scammers are targeting senior citizens with new trends like digital arrest. There is no such thing as digital arrest; read the cyber police alert. It explained that fraudsters pretend to be police officials threatening arrest unless the target pays a fine online. “Authorities will never ask for money online or threaten arrest over a call,” the alert underlined.

It added, “Sextortion is another threat for senior citizens. Fraudsters trick victims into sharing private photos and then demand money, with the threat to leak them. One should never share personal or intimate information online.” Regarding the investment fraud, it warned to beware of promises of high returns and always consult trusted financial advisors before investing, read the alert.

“Phishing scams are common too, and the citizens should avoid click- ing on suspicious links or sharing their OTPs. Banks and government agencies never ask for sensitive details over calls or messages,” it cautioned.