Cyber scams and fraud are on the rise in India. These scams typically involve spam calls, with the callers posing as government officials in an attempt to obtain Aadhar, ATM, and other sensitive information. To evade detection, these scammers now operate from foreign countries and even use Indian mobile numbers to make their calls appear genuine. This new approach has led to the emergence of a troubling phenomenon known as 'cyber slavery.' Here's everything you need to know about it.
What is Cyber slavery?
As indicated by its name, cyber slavery is a modern form of exploitation in which individuals are unlawfully confined and forced into engaging in cyber scams. The individuals are lured to South East Asian nations under the pretence of securing high-paying data entry positions, only to be coerced into committing cyber fraud.
Upon arrival, their passports are confiscated, and they are coerced by fraudulent organisations to fabricate fake social media profiles featuring women in order to persuade individuals to invest in cryptocurrency apps or fraudulent investment schemes. Once the victims invest, all communication is abruptly terminated or blocked.
In a particular incident, a report revealed that over 5,000 Indians were believed to be ensnared in Cambodia, allegedly held against their will and compelled to commit cyber fraud. Government estimates suggest that Indians had been defrauded of at least Rs 500 crore in the six months leading up to March of this year.
The recent incident has prompted the Indian government to establish an inter-ministerial panel to address the issue and pinpoint the loopholes. The panel has identified deficiencies in the banking, immigration, and telecom sectors.
Steps taken by Indian government to combat cyber slavery
To combat cyber slavery, the Union Ministry of Telecommunications has informed the high-level inter-ministerial panel that it will disconnect approximately 2.17 crore mobile connections obtained through forged documents or misused in cybercrime, and block 2.26 lakh mobile handsets.
Additionally, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has instructed telecom companies to block all incoming international spoofed calls displaying Indian mobile numbers. The ministry has reported that 35 percent of incoming international calls are currently being dropped, and this measure is set to be fully implemented by December 31 of this year.
Furthermore, DoT is taking steps to identify roaming phone numbers in scam operations in the Southeast Asia region. To achieve this, all telecom service providers (TSPs) have been asked to provide data every week for Indian mobile numbers using roaming facilities in Hong Kong, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, and Myanmar.
