Sleuths from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched operations at eight locations in West Bengal on Thursday as part of their investigation into a cyber fraud scheme involving over ₹1,000 crore originating in Tamil Nadu, according to a senior official. The raids are being conducted simultaneously at five sites in the Park Street, Salt Lake, and Baguihati areas of Kolkata, alongside three other locations in various districts.

During the operations in Salt Lake, one individual was detained for questioning. Additionally, raids are in progress at a flat located in a high-end residential complex in Baguihati. The investigation has revealed that multiple individuals from various eastern Indian states are implicated in these crimes.

In Tamil Nadu, cyber financial frauds attributed to the period from January to September 2024 have resulted in a loss of ₹1,116 crore, from which the State Cyber Crime Wing has successfully frozen ₹526 crore through both automatic and manual methods. Approximately ₹48 crore has been recovered and returned to complainants from the fraudsters’ accounts.

The police have stressed the importance of promptly reporting any incidents. Delayed complaints may yield no results, so victims are encouraged to file reports immediately after experiencing any losses or cyber-attacks.

To facilitate timely reporting of financial cyber fraud, the Citizen Financial Cyber Frauds Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) has been developed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs. This system allows for quick reporting of financial losses related to digital banking, credit/debit card transactions, payment intermediaries, and UPI.

Additional Director General of Police for the Cyber Crime Wing, Sandeep Mittal, noted that the Cyber Helpline 1930 is gaining popularity. The system ensures that complaints lodged through the CFCFRMS are automatically processed and blocked without delay. Victims need not visit police stations to register cyber complaints; they can file them quickly via www.cybercrime.gov.in or by calling 1930, thus saving both time and effort.

In a chilling incident that has sent shockwaves through Maharashtra’s Nashik district, a man and his son reportedly hacked their neighbor to death and later surrendered to the police with the victim’s severed head.

The brutal crime occurred on Wednesday morning in Nanashi village, located in Dindori taluka. The accused, identified as 40-year-old Suresh Boke and his son, attacked their neighbor, 35-year-old Gulab Ramchandra Waghmare, using an axe and a sickle. After committing the crime, the duo arrived at the Nanashi Outpost police chowki carrying the severed head and the weapons used in the attack, according to police officials.

Tensions escalate in the village

The gruesome act sparked outrage among the local residents. Angered by the crime, villagers vandalized the accused’s house and set their car on fire. In response to the unrest, additional police personnel, including the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), were deployed to maintain order in the area.

“The situation is currently under control, and security has been tightened to prevent further escalation,” said a senior police official.

Long-Standing dispute turns deadly

Preliminary investigations reveal that the accused and the victim were embroiled in a long-standing feud. Both families had lodged police complaints against each other on December 31. The feud allegedly took a violent turn when the Boke family suspected Waghmare of assisting Suresh’s daughter in eloping.

The motive for the murder is believed to be rooted in this suspicion, which led to the brutal killing.

Legal proceedings begin

The victim’s wife, Minabai Waghmare, filed a complaint, prompting the police to register a case under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges of murder and criminal intimidation.

While Suresh Boke has been arrested, his son, whose age has not yet been confirmed, is being detained. Both have been handed over to the Dindori police for further investigation and safety. They are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.

This horrifying incident has left the village of Nanashi in shock, with authorities working to ensure that peace is restored while investigations continue.

The Union Home Ministry in its latest report stated that social media platform WhatsApp followed by Telegram and Instagram remains one of the favourite hunting grounds for online scamsters.

Reportedly, in the first three months of the year 2024, around 43,797 complaints regarding cyber frauds through WhatsApp were received followed by 22,680 complaints against Telegram and 19,800 against Instagram.

The annual Ministry of Home Affairs report 2023-24 reads that cyber fraudsters have been using Google services platforms for initiating these crimes. It stated that Google Advertisement platform provides a convenient facility for targeted advertisement from across the border.

The report mentioned that the scam, known as Pig Butchering Scam or Investment Scam is a global phenomenon and involves large-scale money laundering and even cyber slavery. It added that unemployed youths, housewives, students, and needy people are targeted, who are losing large sums of money on a daily basis.

Reports said that the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) has partnered with Google and Facebook for sharing intelligence and signals for proactive actions, such as flagging digital lending apps and its signals and abuse of Google’s Firebase domains (free hosting) by cyber fraudsters, Android Banking Malwares (Hashes), among others.

Furthermore, it also mentioned that sponsored Facebook ads are extensively used by organised cyber criminals to launch illegal lending apps in India. It underlined that such links are proactively identified and shared with Facebook, along with Facebook pages for necessary action.

The report asserted that the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre is making efforts for the capacity building of all pillars of criminal justice system, which includes Law Enforcement Agencies, Forensic Examiners, Prosecutors and Judges for imparting training in cyber security, investigation of cybercrime and digital forensics in institutes across the country.

Additionally, the ministry has also rolled out a Cyber Volunteer Framework, which enables citizens to enroll as cyber volunteers for reporting unlawful content on the Internet, dissemination of cyber hygiene and as cyber experts to aid law enforcement under which 54,833 volunteers had registered by March 31, 2024, according to the report.