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Showing posts with label Online Crime. Show all posts
Welfare Portal
Cyber Fraud India Online Crime Shutterdown Welfare Portal

Cybercrime Gang Busted for Massive Fake Welfare Portal Scam in India

 

A massive inter-state cybercrime syndicate targeting government welfare schemes in India was busted by police under an operation code-named “Shutterdown,” revealing one of the largest frauds of recent years involving over 36 arrests and millions siphoned off from government funds intended for farmers, pensioners, and low-income citizens.

The gang, which included government employees and technically skilled individuals, exploited structural vulnerabilities in official portals of welfare schemes such as PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, Social Security Pension, and various compensation programs.

Sophisticated modus operandi

The perpetrators manipulated government databases, using unauthorized IDs to activate fraudulent accounts and reroute OTPs to agents, ensuring transactions remained undetected during operational hours. 

Fake beneficiaries were created by purchasing bank account details and identity documents from ineligible persons, who were promised welfare funds in exchange for providing their credentials. Large sums were systematically withdrawn using forged identities and quick cash transactions, backed by real-time data manipulation on government digital platforms.

Scale and impact

Police investigations uncovered over 11,000 fake beneficiary accounts, with evidence of systematic syphoning through a web of financial activity stretching across districts such as Jodhpur, Kota, Bundi, Dausa, and beyond. The operation led to the seizure of more than ₹52 lakh in cash, luxury vehicles, hundreds of SIM cards, biometric devices, and documents linked to thousands of accounts.

Police credited the success of the crackdown to proactive citizen informants, technical surveillance, and coordination between state police and banking institutions, including immediate freezing of suspect accounts and deployment of forensic audit teams by leading banks.

Key masterminds and ongoing probe

The fraud’s mastermind, Ramavatar Saini, leveraged intimate knowledge of welfare portals to orchestrate the scam, aided by collaborators like Mohammad Laeeq (with access to nodal office systems) and Subhash (who sourced bulk data of ineligible beneficiaries). 

Additional suspects from multiple states remain at large, with police announcing rewards for their capture. The breakthrough is expected to spark reforms addressing high-tech vulnerabilities in digital welfare delivery platforms and improve coordination for inter-state financial crime investigations.

Authorities have emphasized the need for urgent technical upgrades to official systems and more robust verification protocols to prevent future cyber-enabled misuse of welfare funds. Public vigilance, rapid intelligence sharing, and cross-agency collaboration played a vital role in uncovering the racket and containing its financial fallout.
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Platforms
Cyber Security CyberCriminal Europol Ireland Cyber Security Online Crime Organized Crime Platforms

Global Taskforce Dismantles Encrypted Criminal Platform ‘Ghost,’ Leading to 51 Arrests

 

In a major breakthrough, Ireland’s police service, An Garda Síochána, collaborated with Europol and law enforcement from eight other countries to dismantle a sophisticated criminal platform known as ‘Ghost.’ This encrypted platform was widely used for large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering, and other serious criminal activities. So far, the coordinated operation has led to the arrest of 51 individuals, including 38 in Australia and 11 in Ireland, and is seen as a critical step toward disrupting international organized crime. 

Ghost’s advanced encryption capabilities allowed criminals to communicate without fear of detection, handling approximately 1,000 messages daily. It even featured self-destruct options to erase messages, offering a high level of secrecy for criminal enterprises. During the investigation, Irish authorities seized 42 encrypted devices and over €15 million worth of drugs, such as cocaine, cannabis, and heroin, linking the platform to at least four criminal gangs operating within Ireland. The platform’s dismantling is part of a more extensive, ongoing investigation into organized crime that relies on encrypted communication networks to conduct illegal operations. 

Europol’s executive director, Catherine De Bolle, emphasized the importance of international collaboration in this operation, noting that the joint effort from various countries was crucial in dismantling a system that many criminals considered impenetrable. She stated that such coordinated action demonstrates that law enforcement can penetrate even the most secure networks when they work together. This operation marks a significant achievement in disrupting illegal activities facilitated by encrypted platforms, proving that even the most advanced criminal networks cannot hide from justice. 

Despite this victory, authorities remain cautious, acknowledging that shutting down criminal platforms like Ghost is just one step in the fight against organized crime. Similar cases, such as the resurgence of the LockBit ransomware gang, serve as reminders that criminals often adapt quickly, finding new ways to operate. This operation, however, is a testament to the effectiveness of global cooperation and advanced investigative techniques, sending a strong message to criminal networks that no platform, regardless of its sophistication, is beyond the reach of law enforcement. 

As investigations continue, Europol anticipates more arrests and the unearthing of additional criminal activities associated with Ghost. This case highlights the ongoing need for international collaboration, technological expertise, and persistent efforts to dismantle organized crime networks.
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User Security
AI Tool Artificial Intelligence Malicious Campaign Online Crime Technology User Security

How AI is Helping Threat Actors to Launch Cyber Attacks

 

Artificial intelligence offers great promise, and while many tech enthusiasts are enthusiastic about it, hackers are also looking to this technology to aid their illicit activities. The field of artificial intelligence is interesting, but it may also make us nervous. Therefore, how might AI support online criminals? 

Social engineering 

Every week, social engineering, a form of cybercrime, claims countless victims and is a big issue worldwide. In this technique, the victim is coerced into complying with the attacker's demands through manipulation, frequently without being aware that they are the target. 

By creating the text that appears in fraudulent communications like phishing emails and SMS, AI could aid in social engineering attempts. It wouldn't be impossible, even with today's level of AI development, to instruct a chatbot to create a compelling or persuasive script, which the cybercriminal could then employ against their victims. People have taken notice of this threat and are already worried about the dangers that lie ahead.

In this way, by correcting typos and grammatical errors, AI might potentially assist in making hostile communications appear more formal and professional. Therefore, it might be advantageous for cybercriminals if they can write their social engineering content more clearly and effectively. Such errors are frequently described as potential indicators of malicious activity. 

Analysing stolen data

Data is worth as much as gold. Sensitive information is currently regularly sold on dark web markets, and some dangerous actors are willing to pay a very high price for the information if it is sufficiently valuable. 

But data must first be stolen in order for it to appear on these marketplaces. Small-scale data theft is undoubtedly possible, particularly when an attacker targets single victims. However, larger hacks may lead to the theft of sizable databases. The cybercriminal must now decide whatever information in this database is worthwhile. 

A malicious actor would spend less time deciding what is worthwhile to sell or, on the other hand, directly exploit by hand if the process of identifying valuable information were to be expedited with AI. Since learning is the foundation of artificial intelligence, it might someday be simple to use an AI-powered tool to detect sensitive information that is valuable. 

Malware writing 

Some people would not be surprised to learn that malware can be created using artificial intelligence because this is a sophisticated form of technology. A combination of the words "malicious" and "software," malware refers to the various types of malicious software used in hacking. 

Malware must first be written, though, in order to be used. Cybercriminals aren't all skilled programmers; others just don't want to spend the time learning how to write new programmes. AI may prove useful in this situation. 

It was discovered that ChatGPT might be used to create malware for nefarious activities in the early 2023. An AI infrastructure supports OpenAI's wildly popular ChatGPT. Despite the fact that this chatbot is being used by hackers, it can perform many important tasks. 

In one particular instance, a user claimed in a forum for hackers that ChatGPT had been used to write a Python-based malware programme. Writing malicious software could be efficiently automated with ChatGPT. This makes it easier for novice cybercriminals with limited technical knowledge to operate. 

Instead of writing sophisticated code that poses serious hazards, ChatGPT (or at least its most recent version) is only capable of producing simple, occasionally problematic malware programmes. This does not preclude the employment of AI to create malicious software, either. Given that a modern AI chatbot is already capable of writing simple malicious programmes, it might not be long before we start to notice more heinous malware coming from AI systems. 

Bottom line 

Artificial intelligence has been and will continue to be abused by cybercriminals, as is the case with the majority of technological advancements. It's absolutely impossible to predict how hackers will be able to progress their attacks utilising this technology in the near future given that AI already has certain dubious skills. Cybersecurity companies may also use AI more frequently to combat similar threats, but only time will tell how this one develops.
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