Digital arrest fraud: Indians lost Rs 120 crore in January-April 2024
New Delhi: Indians lost a whopping Rs 120.3 crore to ‘digital arrest’ fraud schemes during the first quarter of 2024, according to recent government data. This alarming trend was highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which oversees cybercrime at the national level through the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), noted that digital arrests have recently emerged as a common method of cyber fraud. Many perpetrators of these scams are located in three contiguous southeast Asian countries: Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.
In its analysis of trends from January to April, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) found that 46 percent of cyber frauds reported during this period, resulting in cumulative losses of approximately Rs 1,776 crore, originated in these three countries.
As many as 7.4 lakh complaints were received between January 1 and April 30 this year, while 15.56 lakh complaints were received in 2023, according to the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) data as cited by Indian Express.
According to I4C, there are four types of scams — digital arrest, trading scam, investment scam (task based) and romance/dating scam. “We found that Indians lost Rs 120.30 crore in digital arrest, Rs 1,420.48 crore in trading scam, Rs 222.58 crore in investments scam, and Rs 13.23 crore in romance/dating scam,” Chief Executive Officer (I4C), Rajesh Kumar had said while releasing the January-April data in May, according to the publication.
I4C zeroed in on Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia after analysing data on its NCRP, inputs received from states and Union Territories, and some open-source information, IE added.
Kumar emphasised that cybercrime operations in these countries employ various deceptive tactics, such as using social media to recruit Indians by offering fraudulent employment opportunities.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
