India has intensified efforts to curb crypto-related scams by collaborating with tech giants Google and Meta (formerly Facebook), according to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ 2024 annual report.
The inaugural aims to combat the rising menace of “pig butchering” scams, a signifier of crypto concern fraud targeting susceptible groups specified arsenic unemployed youth, housewives, students, and financially struggling individuals.
Rise of pig butchering
The study described however these scams typically lure victims done societal media platforms and hunt engines, promising precocious returns connected crypto investments. The strategy has gained expanding traction successful caller months, with investors losing implicit $3.6 billion to these scams successful 2024.
Scammers often airs arsenic fiscal advisors oregon representatives of morganatic concern firms, gradually gathering spot earlier convincing victims to transportation ample sums of wealth into fraudulent schemes.
The Ministry highlighted that fraudsters misuse Google’s advertisement services and Meta’s sponsored ads to motorboat malicious applications and phishing campaigns.
In response, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) established protocols to enactment straight with these platforms to emblem suspicious activities, artifact ads, and instrumentality down fraudulent contented much rapidly.
Collaborative measures
As portion of the initiative, I4C actively monitors integer lending apps and Android banking malware that exploit susceptible users. The halfway shares lists of phishing advertisers with Google, enabling swift removal and relationship suspension. Meanwhile, Meta plays a important relation successful identifying and dismantling scam-related pages and amerciable lending apps flagged by I4C.
In a important measurement to support users, Google Pay has been integrated into the Citizen Financial Cyber Frauds Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS). This integration facilitates real-time interception of fraudulent transactions, allowing authorities to hint and frost assets.
The study noted that this strategy saved implicit 16 cardinal Indian rupees and provided alleviation to much than 575,000 victims successful 2023 alone. To bolster these efforts, the Ministry has prioritized educating instrumentality enforcement agencies connected blockchain analysis, enabling them to hint illicit crypto transactions and prehend integer assets progressive successful scams.
Other efforts
Training programs connected crypto tracing and forensic investigation person been rolled retired nationwide to heighten investigative capabilities. The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) continues to service arsenic a captious level for citizens to study crypto scams, ensuring quicker lawsuit resolutions.
The Ministry besides established the National Counter Ransomware Task Force, which works intimately with fiscal institutions, outgo platforms, and crypto exchanges to mitigate large-scale cyber threats.
The study besides highlighted India’s progressive information successful planetary efforts, including collaboration with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), to fortify planetary standards for combating wealth laundering and coercion financing involving cryptocurrencies. This planetary practice aims to code the transnational quality of crypto-related crimes.
The station India partners with tech giants Google, Meta to curb ‘pig butchering’ scams appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.