The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has estimated that a significant portion of the cyber scams targeting Indians come from Southeast Asia. It attributes over half of the approximately Rs 7,000 crore lost to online scams in the first five months of this year, January to May, to networks operating out of Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
According to data compiled by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), a unit under MHA, these scams are often run from high-security locations, reportedly controlled by Chinese operators, where trafficked people, including Indians, are forced to work.
An analysis of cyber frauds this year revealed that they are targeting the Indian economy, and the country faces a loss of around Rs 1,000 crore every month to such crimes.
“In January, Rs 1,192 crore was lost to Southeast Asia-based countries, Rs 951 crore in February, Rs 1,000 crore in March, Rs 731 crore in April and Rs 999 crore in May,” an official said, citing the data from the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS), I4C’s facilty to help citizens report and manage financial cyber fraud incidents.
A senior government official told The Indian Express that senior officials of Cambodia recently met with the Indian government in Delhi and discussed an action plan. In the meeting, which was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and attended by the officials of Central investigation agencies, Cambodian officials requested to share the exact geographical coordinates of these scam centres in the country so that they can take action.
“With the help of intelligence agencies and testimonies of rescued people, the Indian government has identified at least 45 such scam compounds in Cambodia, five in Laos, and one in Myanmar. It also came to the fore that, apart from Indians, people from African countries, East Asia countries, Southeast Asia countries, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, Europe/North America and South America were also identified in these scam compounds,” the official said.
A probe has revealed three types of major cybercrime frauds operating from Southeast Asia: stock trading/investment scams, digital arrest, and task-based and investment-based scams.
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The Indian government has also tracked several agents recruiting Indians for these operations, with the most operating out of Maharashtra (59), followed by Tamil Nadu (51), Jammu and Kashmir (46), Uttar Pradesh (41) and Delhi (38). “Agents’ data shows that they are hiring people the most for Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia,” the official said.
The Indian Express first reported that more than 5,000 Indians were suspected to be trapped in Cambodia after being allegedly held against their will and forced to carry out cyber fraud.
According to government estimates, Indians had been duped of at least Rs 500 crore in the six months before March this year. The Centre then set up an inter-ministerial panel to look into the issue and identify the loopholes. The panel identified gaps in the banking, immigration, and telecom sectors. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) then registered an FIR against point of sale (PoS) agents based in various states for allegedly issuing ghost SIM cards.
After recording the statements of rescued and returned people, the government has tracked down their route of travel to Cambodia. “It has been found that agents are sending people to Dubai to China and Cambodia, Tamil Nadu to Cambodia, Maharashtra to Thailand and Cambodia, Jaipur to Thailand and Cambodia, Jaipur to Vietnam to Bangkok and Cambodia, Delhi to Bangkok and Cambodia, Lucknow to Bangkok and Cambodia, Kerala to Vietnam and Cambodia, Kerala to Singapore and Cambodia, and Kolkata to Vietnam and Cambodia by road,” the official added.
