India rejects Canadian Commission's 'insinuations'
New Delhi (PTI): India on Tuesday night strongly rejected "insinuations" made against it in a report by a Canadian commission that investigated allegations that certain foreign governments were meddling into Canada's elections.
In a strong reaction, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it rejects the report's "insinuations" on India.
It is in fact Canada which has been "consistently interfering" in India's internal affairs, it said.
"We have seen a report about alleged activities on purported interference. It is in fact Canada which has been consistently interfering in India's internal affairs," the MEA said.
"This has also created an environment for illegal migration and organised criminal activities," it said in a statement.
"We reject the report's insinuations on India and expect that the support system enabling illegal migration will not be further countenanced," it added.
The government of India was suspected of using proxy agents to provide "clandestine financial support" to candidates from three political parties in a federal election, Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail reported.
In September, 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Justice Marie-JosÃe Hogue to head the commission of inquiry into the allegations of foreign meddling in elections.
The commission examined allegations of meddling into the elections against China, Russia and others, according to Canadian media reports.
Last June, a report by Canada's National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians found that some parliamentarians were witting or semi-witting participants in foreign meddling.
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In a first, Bengaluru woman loses Rs 2 lakh after pressing ‘1’ on fake IVR call: Report
Bengaluru: In what appears to be the first such cybercrime reported in Bengaluru, a 57-year-old woman reportedly lost Rs 2 lakh after following instructions and pressing a key during a fake IVR (Interactive Voice Response) call from a nationalised bank.
The woman, a resident of Dattatreyanagar in Hosakerehalli, received a call that appeared to be from the State Bank of India (SBI), a bank she holds an account with. The IVR message claimed that Rs 2 lakh was being transferred from her account and instructed her to press '1' if she did not authorize the transaction, as reported by the Times of India on Thursday.
"I was shocked on hearing the voice note as I had not done any such transaction. I didn't press any number. The voice note repeated, saying that I have not responded. I was confused. After three rounds of such announcements, I pressed 1 as I had not initiated the transaction. Soon after that, there was a second announcement stating, ‘Please visit your bank and contact the manager immediately.' Subsequently, the call got disconnected," she told the national daily.
Shortly after, the call disconnected, and she discovered a Rs 2 lakh loss in her account. She immediately contacted her bank and filed a complaint with the police.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer explained that fraudsters often use IVR calls to ask for personal details like the last four digits of a debit card, bank account number, date of birth, email ID, or other information needed to access online banking. "Once the victim shares the information, the money is siphoned off. Without sharing the credentials, it is not possible to siphon off money just by pressing the options 3 or 1 or 9," he told TOI.
The officer noted that the victim may have shared some information in response to the voice message, which could have allowed the fraudsters to access her account and steal the money. If she didn't provide any details, this type of scam would be new to them, and the investigation will provide more clarity.
A case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and BNS section 318 (cheating).
