Govt data shows Southeast Asian countries luring Indians into cyber frauds of ₹1,500 crore a month
New Delhi: The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has revealed that most cyber fraud cases targeting Indians are being operated from Southeast Asian nations, including Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
The data, collected by the Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), also indicates that these frauds are primarily linked to networks allegedly managed by Chinese operators, according to The New Indian Express.
Indians are reportedly losing an average of ₹1,300 crore to ₹1,500 crore every month to these fraudsters, sources said on Sunday.
Further data from I4C shows that online financial losses suffered by Indian citizens between January and June 2025 amounted to approximately ₹8,500 crore, with more than half the cases reportedly linked to operations based in Southeast Asia.
However, the losses are found to be lower than those recorded in 2024, when the monthly average stood at ₹2,200 crore. The decline, according to sources, is attributed to improved surveillance, international cooperation, and public awareness campaigns conducted by the I4C.
Sources also highlighted that many of these operations are run from secure facilities in countries like Cambodia and Myanmar, which often serve as hubs for large-scale digital fraud, including phishing, online investment scams, and fake job offers.
Additionally, the I4C has found that some Indian citizens are themselves involved in these criminal activities—many of them forced into participating. According to sources, individuals are often lured or trafficked abroad under false promises, and later coerced into working in call centres that target Indian users for online fraud.
The I4C continues to collaborate with international agencies and local legal bodies to detect and dismantle such networks. It also urges citizens to remain cautious of suspicious online schemes and to report cybercrimes through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
