Scammers exploiting technological advances have become increasingly prevalent in India’s financial sector. Various fraudulent schemes, including UPI scams, QR code frauds, part-time job deceptions, and malware-driven cybercrimes, have been reported. According to the Cybercrime Reporting Portal, cybercriminals caused losses exceeding Rs 1,750 crore to Indian residents from January to April 2024. Recently, a Gurgaon-based software engineer shared his interaction with a scammer on X (formerly Twitter).
Lesson: Never mess with a developer pic.twitter.com/GSmtrdDo4A
— Gaurav Sharan (@GauravSharan09) July 27, 2024
The engineer received a text message claiming his HDFC Bank account was suspended and instructing him to click a link to update his Permanent Account Number (PAN). Recognizing the scam immediately, he decided to humorously engage with the scammer.
“Okay, Bhaiya,” he replied.
The scammer instructed, “Just now open the link and update your pan No.”
The engineer responded, pointing out the website’s fraudulent nature and offering to redesign the page to resemble the HDFC net banking site for Rs 20,000, saying, “I am a software engineer, I can help you redesign the page.”
Ironically, the scammer asked him to send some samples.
The post garnered over 40,000 views.
Aapada ko avasar me badle
— ashish ☘️ (@humoursapien2) July 27, 2024
One user humorously commented, “Aapada ko avasar me badle (Turn disaster into opportunity).”
Uno reverse 🤣🤣🤣
— Atharva Katre 🇮🇳 (@atharvakatre18) July 28, 2024
“Uno reverse,” said another user.
https://twitter.com/ChaituAthukuri/status/1817651625479323778
In May 2024, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) reported an average of 7,000 cybercrime complaints daily. As per the Economic Times, this marks a notable increase of 60.9% from 2022 to 2023 and a significant surge of 113.7% from 2021 to 2023.
Additionally, financial online fraud accounted for 85% of all complaints. The majority of victims fell prey to OTP scams, sextortion, unlawful loan applications, gaming apps, algorithm tricks, and online investment fraud.
