Safety from growing cyber gaming frauds!

By M.Y.Siddiqui

Growing cyber gaming frauds have prompted cyber wing of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to advise people to exercise caution when engaging in online gaming. The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (14C) of the MHA’s cautionary message says, “Play Smart, Play Safe, Stay Secure while gaming online”. The 14C wing has urged the people to download online apps only from authentic sources like Google Play Store, Apple Store and Official Websites. The 14C’s advice exhorts the people to “always check game app publishers to ensure website legitimacy. The warning calls upon the people to never fall in the trap of game in-app purchases and lucrative subscription offers. 

People are warned not to share personal information in chats or forums, as scammers can use social media tactics to manipulate players. People should allow only relevant and necessary permissions while downloading app. In case of online fraud, the 14C suggests the victims should dial 1930, the cybercrime helpline number. The Government of India in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology blocked 581 such apps till December 15, 2023 and out of these, there were 174 betting and gambling apps and 87 loan lending apps. These apps were blocked under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000 as amended to date. Banned apps included PUBG, Garena Free Fire.

In July 2023, the union government amended IGST Act, 2017 (The Integrated Goods and Services Tax  Act, 2017) making registration of offshore gaming companies mandatory in India. The Act also gave the Central Government the power to block websites that are not registered and are violative of laws. The betting platforms, notorious for collecting UPI payments through proxy bank accounts and the amount accumulated in the proxy accounts are being remitted through hawala, crypto and other illegal routes. Apart from Mahadev, some of the apps banned are Parimatch, Fairplay, IXBET, Lotus365, Dafabet and Betwaysatta. Many such apps are on the banned list and some others are operating covertly illegally in India. Recently, the MHA banned/blocked over 500 Internet based apps on the recommendations of 14C. Government has now prepared an analytical report on the modus operandi of major cyber attacks in the country.

Union government in the MHA has taken several initiatives for cyber security. In the coming days, about 70 percent of the criminal justice system including prisons and courts will be online. More than 20 lakhs (2 million) cybercrime complaints have been registered on the portal: cybercrime.gov.in based on which more than 40,000 FIRs have been registered. Simultaneously, 13 crore (130 million) hits were registered since the launch of this portal in January 2020. According to a report of the 14C wing, on an average, more than 5000 cybercrime complaints are registered daily across the country. The report mentioned the growth of 113.7 percent cybercrime complaints from 2021 to 2022, and 60.9 percent from 2022 to 2023. 

There has been a phenomenal rise in complaints reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP). Cybercrimes reported increase from 26,049 in 2019 to 2,57,777 in 2020, from 4,32,414 in 2021 to 9,66,796 in 2022 and to 15,56,176 in 2023, according to the latest available official information. The ever-rising cybercrimes are akin to the fast growing drug addictions all over the country. It has ruined many lives. Checking such crimes has become a very daunting task given the penchant for wide scale rampant corruptions in the ranks and files of law enforcement agencies both in the central and state governments. And there is no one to address such malaise effectively and surely as it suits every body in the system. There is a collusive culture where everyone in the governance is honest and no one corrupt! 

Powered by Froala Editor