Blocked 1,700 Skype IDs, 59,000 WhatsApp accounts used for ‘digital arrests’: MHA

MHA said the Centre has launched a awareness programme on digital arrest via newspaper advertisements and the use of social media influencers

NEW DELHI: The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre or I4C has proactively identified and blocked over 1,700 Skype IDs and 59,000 WhatsApp accounts used for digital arrests, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The government has also launched a comprehensive awareness programme on digital arrests (PTI/FILE IMAGE)

The government has also launched a comprehensive awareness programme on digital arrests, it said.

“The central government has launched a comprehensive awareness programme on digital arrest which, inter-alia, include; newspaper advertisement on digital arrest scam, announcement in Delhi metros on digital arrest and other modus operandi of cyber criminals, use of social media influencers to create special posts on digital arrest, campaign about digital arrest through Prasar Bharti and electronic media, special programme on Aakashvani on digital arrest...”, the MHA said in a written response in the Lok Sabha.

“I4C (has) proactively identified and blocked more than 1,700 Skype IDs and 59,000 WhatsApp accounts used for digital arrest,” it said.

The issue of digital arrests also came up during deliberations at the director generals of police/inspector generals of police (DGPs/IGPs) conference last week in Bhubaneswar, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the police leadership of the country to focus on digital frauds, and use of artificial intelligence by the criminals, particularly the use of deep-fakes.

The home ministry also said that the government has published a press release to alert people against incidents of ‘blackmail’ and ‘digital arrest’ by cyber criminals impersonating as officers of state police, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other law enforcement agencies.

It further said that the government and telecom service providers (TSPs) “have devised a system to identify and block incoming international spoofed calls displaying Indian mobile numbers appear to be originating within India.”

“Such international spoofed calls have been made by cyber-criminals in recent cases of fake digital arrests, FedEx scams, impersonation as government and police officials, etc. Directions have been issued to the TSPs for blocking such incoming international spoofed calls,” it added.

Besides, a state-of-the-art centre - Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC) - has been established at I4C where representatives of major banks, financial intermediaries, payment aggregators, TSPs, IT intermediaries and representatives of states/UTs forces are working together for immediate action and seamless cooperation to tackle cybercrime.

The ministry added that more than 6,69,000 SIM cards and 1,32,000 IMEIs reported by police have been blocked by the Centre till November 15 this year.

Also, MHA said, seven Joint Cyber Coordination Teams (JCCTs) have been constituted for Mewat, Jamtara, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vishakhapatnam, and Guwahati under I4C covering the whole country based upon cybercrime hotspots/areas having multi-jurisdictional issues by on-boarding states/UTs to enhance the coordination framework among the law enforcement agencies.

A ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’, under I4C, started in 2021 for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters, has saved over ₹3,431 crore in more than 9,94,000 complaints, it said.