The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has issued an alert to citizens about a new type of ‘blackmail’ scam in which cybercriminals impersonate police officers to extort money from their victims.
In this scam, the fraudsters claim that you have sent them an illegal parcel containing drugs, fake passports, or other contraband items and that a close relative of yours has also been arrested in a crime or accident. They then demand money to compromise the “case”. The fraudsters also make the victims undergo a “digital arrest”, during which they are made to appear visually available over a video conferencing platform to the fraudsters, till their demands are met.
According to I4C, these fraudsters operate by cross-border crime syndicates and use studios modelled on police stations and government offices. The I4C has urged its citizens to be aware of this type of scam and to report any such incidents to the cybercrime helpline number 1930 or http://www.cybercrime.gov.in.
The I4C has also blocked more than 1,000 Skype IDs involved in such activities, in collaboration with Microsoft, and is also facilitating the blocking of SIM cards, mobile devices, and Mule accounts used by these fraudsters. It has also issued various alerts through its social media platform ‘CyberDost’ about these scams.
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It is to be noted that this type of scam is not new and there have been earlier cases reported where cybercriminals posed as police officers to extort money from their victims.
The I4C’s alert has urged citizens to be vigilant and aware of all the potential risks associated with these online scams and to take necessary steps to protect themselves.
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