'Bank insurance staffers' dupe IIT alumnus of Rs 35 lakh

Mateen Hafeez 

Mar 11, 2019, 08.01 AM IST

MUMBAI: A senior citizen who is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur was cheated of Rs 35 lakh by cyber fraudsters who posed as bank officials and lured him to get huge money on his life insurance policies. The conmen, to get money into their account, then warned the 67-year-old of possible raids by the enforcement directorate (ED) and income tax officials.
The senior citizen lodged a complaint of cheating and hacking at Nagpada police station. The victim told the police that the suspects cheated him from June to December last year. Investigating officer Prasad Raut told TOI, "We are trying to get details of the bank accounts used by the accused."

The complainant had taken life insurance policies from a private bank for Rs 4 lakh. In 2018, his policies were to mature. The complainant decided to close the policy and informed the bank. A few months later, he got a call from one Akhlaque Ahmed who said he was from the same bank.

The police said that Ahmed told the senior citizen that he could he could get Rs 8 lakh as returns if he deposited Rs 70,000 into a certain account as processing fee.

Though the victim did not get the promised Rs 8 lakh, he got a call from one Kamal Sharma who said he was from the same bank. Sharma gave details of privileges for senior citizens and told the complainant that he could benefit from government schemes and his total return would be around Rs 33.7 lakh provided he first deposited Rs 6.13 lakh into another account as processing fee. The victim transferred the amount.

A month later, he got another call from one S B Sharma and claimed he was from the same bank. This caller asked the senior citizen to deposit Rs 15 lakh if he wnated monthly pension of Rs 42,000 besides te returns promised in the insurance policy. The victim deposited this amount too.

The caller said he needed to transfer total funds to his account, but warned that the ED and income tax authorities could raid him over such a huge amount. The caller said he could circumvent this by paying Rs 6 lakh tax. The victim transferred the amount.

However, as he did not get any funds and all callers' phones were switched off, he lodged a police complaint.

The Times of India, March 11, 2019

Mumbai: 5 held in Rs 40 crore banking fraud

 

Representative Photo

 

Mateen Hafeez | TNN | Jun 22, 2018, 04:20 IST

MUMBAI: In a banking fraud estimated to be over Rs40 crore, the city crime branch on Wednesday arrested five members of a pan-India gang for stealing bank details of nearly 1,000 foreigners. The gang used the information to make duplicate debit cards and transfer out money.
Police claim the gang has been active since 2013.

Those arrested include Zubair Sayyed, who is from Bengaluru, but currently staying in Mira Road, Hasan Shaikh, a garment shopowner, his assistant Mukesh Sharma, Faheem Shora, who has a shop selling Kashmiri products in the western suburbs and Abu Bakar Shaikh.

While Shora provided his swipe machine to the accused, Abu Bakar was responsible for contacting various shopowners and providing their swipe machines to the accused, the police said.

DCP Dilip Sawant said not a single foreigner, targeted by the gang has come forward to lodge a police complaint. Most of the victims are from the US and China.

Police said they cracked the case following a tip off about the gang about two weeks ago. "The accused had taken some shopkeepers into confidence and gave them 20% commission to use their swipe machines," said a police official.

The property cell team of the city police led by inspector Rehmatullah Sayyed seized 51 swipe machines, dozens of cheque books and debit cards from the accused.

The police did not mention the names of the foreign banks, stating that it would hamper the probe. 

 

All the accused are either school or junior college dropouts. Zubair Sayyed, the brain behind the racket, is a class XII dropout.

DCP Sawant added cards were swiped at places frequented by foreigners like Goa, Ludhiana, Kullu Manali, Rajasthan, Delhi etc. "We are questioning the accused to know who provided them the details of the cards. We have also written to the Indian banks where the money had been transferred, seeking details about the financial transactions," added the officer.  

 

"Since the accused did not have shops, they contacted some shopkeepers and offered them a commission to use their swipe machines and bank accounts. The gang would not use one card for more than two to three transactions. "We are interrogating the accused and trying to find out who provided them bank details of the foreigners," said an officer.

All the accused were produced before a court and remanded to police custody till June 26.  

The Times of India, June 22, 2018

E-fraudster's ac frozen in a day after CM aide loses Rs 64K





Investigators Show Alacrity In VIP Case 

 

Mateen Hafeez

Mumbai: Perhaps it helps to be the chief minister's personal secretary if you are the victim of a cyber fraud.Mumbai police, in a rare display of alacrity , traced a bank where Rs 64,000 siphoned off from Maharashtra CM's personal secretary Vivek Bhimanwar's account was transferred. Within a day, the police managed to get the account in Kolkata bank frozen. Bhimanwar, who stays in Worli, complained to the police about a cyber fraud. He told the Worli police that some unidentified caller had taken his bank account details from him and one-time password (OTP) and used it to transfer Rs 64,000 from his ICICI bank account to another account. A police officer said, “Soon after beginning the probe, we found the money had been transferred to an account in Axis bank in Kolkata or Bihar. A police officer with the copies of the FIR met the nodal office of Axis Bank in Mumbai and requested them to freeze the account of the accused person. It was done within hours.“ A police team is preparing to leave for Kolkata to trace the accused. While speaking over the phone on the night of May 12, the accused told Bhimanwar that they were confirming information of all customers and updating the Know Your Customer (KYC) data.For this, the accused sought the bank account details of Bhimanwar and even asked him to share his one-time password. Bhimanwar was initially reluctant to share his bank account details but the accused allegedly threatened to close the account.“We have begun the process to get the call data record (CDR) of the suspected mobile number from where Bhimanwar received the call to find out if its location was in Mumbai on that day. The number belongs to some other state but it's also possible that the accused was in Mumbai at that time. We are waiting for some reports before taking the next step,“ the officer said. Unaware of the suspected fraud, Bhimanwar shared his password with the caller.Later, he received a message on his cellphone, stating that Rs 64,000 had been debited to his bank account. “This was the time when he realized that someone had cheated him. Bhimanwar approached the police. The cops immediately registered an FIR under sections of the Information Technology Act and are probing the case. No arrest has been made yet,“ said the officer. Banks often appeal to customers not to share their bank account details with unidentified callers.





THE TIMES OF INDIA, MAY 15, 2015

CM's secy falls prey to e-con, Rs 64,000 gone from bank ac

Mateen Hafeez





  Mumbai: CM Devendra Fadnavis's personal secretary recently fell victim to cyber fraud when Rs 64,000 was siphoned off his bank account. Interestingly , the accused called up the victim, Vivek Bhimanwar, and asked him for a one-time password that had been sent to his mobile, before debiting the amount.
The police said that Bhimanwar, a Worli resident, had lodged a cheating case on Tuesday . Bhimanwar recently received a call from a person, who introduced himself as an employee of a bank where he has an account.The accused told Bhimanwar that they were verifying customers and updating Know Your Customer details. The caller asked Bhimanwar for his account details and for the one-time password. Initially Bhimanwar was reluctant to share details, but gave in after the accused threatened to close the account.

Unaware of the fraud, Bhimanwar shared his details and password with the caller. Later, he received a message on his cellphone, stating that Rs 64,000 was debited from his account.“It was after the SMS that he realized he had been cheated. Bhimanwar then approached the police. An FIR was immediately registered under sections of the Information Technology Act.No arrests have been made yet,“ said an officer.



Former CM's help robbed of cellphone
A domestic help of former CM Prithviraj Chavan was robbed of his cellphone worth Rs 8,500 by a taxi driver near INS Trata in Worli-Koliwada on Monday. The incident occurred when the victim, Vikas Pansare, alighted from the taxi and was about to pay the fare. The police said that the driver snatched his phone and sped away.

THE TIMES OF INDIA, MAY 14, 2015





City to get CERT centre to tackle cyber crimes

Mateen Hafeez

MUMBAI: 



The city police will soon have a full-fledged Compu ter Emergency Response Team (CERT) unit to tackle cyber at tacks. Currently , there is no CERT-India office in Mumbai and each time a website or a page needs to be blocked, the po lice have to request the CERT.

 “The state is in negotiation with the Centre. A CERT office in Mumbai will help us immen sely. CERT tackles any kind of cyber attack, denial of services and blocking of website and ob jectionable posts, etc. Once Mumbai gets a CERT office time taken for action will re duce and we will be in a better position to deliver,“ said Atul chandra Kulkarni, joint com missioner, crime branch. A couple of years ago, two terror emails were sent from Mumbai before and after the 2008 Gujarat serial bomb blasts.The Mumbai police had to take CERT help to block several objectionable pages that could have created law and order problems in the state. “While we get immediate response from CERT on weekdays, it becomes difficult on weekends. A local CERT office will solve this prob lem,“ added another officer.

KMM Prasanna, additional commissioner (crime branch), said a national-level conference on cyber crimes is likely to be held in July. “We are educating more than 1,000 personnel in handling cyber crimes,“ said Prasanna.


THE TIMES OF INDIA, APRIL 19, 2015





Tip us off, cops tell citizens

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The city police on Monday evening conducted a meeting with trustees of several mosques, temples, college students and cyber experts at Birla Matoshree Hall, to avoid any untoward incident on the controversial posts on Facebook. The police said citizens must alert them about rumours that may lead to a law and order problem.

 Krishna Prakash, additional commissioner of police (south region), said they had spoken to several students, met mohalla committee members and those looking after security at shopping malls. “Some groups are behind the posts. They want to create a communal divide.

People should help the police and we should not allow antisocial elements to create law and order problems,” he said.

Mumbai’s cyber crime investigation cell is probing the case of objectionable posts on the social networking site about Chhatrapati Shivaji, Dr B R Ambedkar and the Shiv Sena chief, the late Bal Thackeray. The Nanded police had stated last week that those who ‘like’ such posts would be booked under the Information Technology Act and under the Code of Criminal Procedure. A person could face three to five years in jail if convicted under Section 66(A) of the IT Act (punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc).

Cases against unidentified persons have been filed in Mumbai, Nerul, Pune, Nashik, Yeola, Aurangabad, Satara and Sangli. Three pages on Facebook have been blocked.





The Times of India, June 10, 2014

Those behind anti-social posts identified

Chittaranjan Tembhekar & Mateen Hafeez TNN

 

 

 



 

Teams Sent To Make Arrests, Says R R Patil

 

The Maharashtra government has identified those responsible for posting morphed photographs of Maratha warrior Shivaji and Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray on social media. 

Home minister R R Patil said on Monday that the case had been cracked but did not reveal the identity of those responsible. The state had sent teams to arrest them, he added.

A crime branch officer told TOI separately that during investigations, the origin of the posts has been found to be a north Indian state in one of the cases. “We are sending our team to nab the culprits,” he said, adding that the culprit seems to be an expert in spoofing servers, and that the posts were posted to Facebook using proxy servers in three countries, including Russia and Georgia.

“Anti-social elements are posting inflammatory posts to stoke hatred, bitterness and disharmony between sects,” he said, and warned that action would be taken not only against those who posted photos but also against those who ‘liked’,shared and forwarded them.

He denied that the Centre had sought and then rejected a special report on the killing of Pune techie Mohsin Shaikh from the state. He said the state was exploring the need for legislation to prevent the misuse of social media, such as ‘posting’, ‘sharing’, and ‘liking’ communally provocative issues and photos to avoid such communal tension. Maharashtra ranks first in the country in terms of use of social media.

Patil said reports on major incidents are always sent to the Centre to addressqueries raised at the national level.“There are no special directives from the Centre regarding the murder. There is also no controversy between the state and Centre over the issue. It is very clear that the youth was murdered, for which Hindu Rashtra Sena workers had been arrested,” he said, pointing out that Mohsin was “innocent” and had nothing to do with the posts.

Patil admitted that Mohsin died in the riots and justified the CM’s Rs 5 lakh compensation, saying the victim was one of the family’s prime breadwinners and was well-educated. “The state has enacted a law wherein the government can award compensation to any victim of violence, such as an attack or rape,” he added. “Those who ‘like’ and forward objectionable content are siding with the culprits, and in few days, you will see stringent action against them,” he said.

3 held in Aurangabad

Three persons have been arrested for allegedly posting objectionable material and pictures about a religion on a social networking site and a messaging platform, the police said in Aurangabad on Monday. The arrests were made in two cases. Santosh Yadav (37) and Sainath Yadav (21) were apprehended on Saturday after they allegedly uploading the objectionable material. AGENCIES 

The Times of India, June 10, 2014

Cops to crack whip on those who 'like' offensive posts

Mateen Hafeez

Mumbai: In an attempt to contain protests over objectionable posts on a social networking site about Chhatrapati Shivaji, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and the late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray , the Maharashtra police have decided to take action even against those who `like' the controversial posts.  Those who `like' such posts will be booked under the Information Technology Act and under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Nanded police have said. A person could face three to five years in jail if convicted under Section 66 (a) of the IT Act (punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc), applied in this case. The police are still to trace the Internet Protocol address of the person (yet unidentified) who posted the material online but are not ruling out the possibility that a proxy server may have been used. Cases against unidentified persons have been filed in Mumbai, Nerul, Pune, Nashik, Yeola, Aurangabad, Satara and Sangli. Cops have also applied Section 295A IPC which deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.

The Times of India, June 3, 2014

Click on police website, get info on bridal fashion

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: If you intend to search for city police’s official website—mumbaipolice.org —brace yourself for the unexpected. Of late, thousands of Mumbaikars seeking police help online are being directed to a fashion website for young women, brides and even their bridesmaids and flower girls.

 

    The police website, which was active for eight years, became non-operational a few months ago. Now, once you key in mumbaipolice.org, you are instantly directed to the colourful homepage of madamebridal.com with photographs of foreign models in bridal and summer wear. The dresses on this website are priced from $100 to $600. One B Hristov has been mentioned as the site’s owner.
 

    Sources in Mumbai’s cyber crime cell admit the website became “defunct a long time ago”. An officer told TOI: “Now, we have a new site —www.mumbaipolice.maharashtra.gov.in—which has been operational for several months.”
 

    It has all the details that people looked for in the earlier website, even photographs of former police commissioner Satya Pal Singh, who resigned to join the BJP and served his last day on Friday.
 

    The site—which police officers say is updated on a dayto-day basis—still mentions Singh as the city police chief and also carries his video message.
 

    Sources say the earlier city police site was on a USbased server and they did not renew it after its term expired. “There is a possibility that some other person/ company might have purchased
the domain name,” said an officer and added, “It’s a routine practice.”
 

    “Now, the new police website is associated with National Informatics Centre (NIC) server. NIC is the premier science and technology organization of the Union government in informatics services and information-and-communication-technology applications. NIC is a part of the ministry of communications and information technology.”

The Times of India, February 2, 2014

Phishers dupe IPS officer’s friend of 3 lakh

2 HELD IN 80L FRAUD

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The cyber crime investigation cell has arrested two persons, including a Nigerian national, for hacking into the email account of an IPS officer and sending mails to his contacts requesting them to put money into his bank account. A friend of the complainant, who did not verify the facts, deposited Rs 2.6 lakh in the account. 

 
    The hacker sent emails to 79 contacts of the additional DGP (name withheld). He wrote that the complainant was in America and his bag—containing money, passport and documents—was stolen and he needed money urgently.
 

    The crime branch filed an FIR on January 18. A team—under the supervision of crime branch chief Himanshu Roy and additional commissioner Niket Kaushik—began the probe. The complainant said he got a call from a friend asking if he needed money. The IPS officer took details of the email his friend had received. Suspecting phishing, he lodged the complaint. By then, a businessman friend of the IPS officer had already deposited Rs 2.6 lakh in the account. “The complainant’s account was hacked into on January 6. We traced the Internet Protocol address of the email to Nigeria. The bank account was in an Udaipur bank in Rajasthan,” said police.
    

Cops reached Udaipur, collected the details of the account holder, who said he withdrew money and hand it over to an Udaipur resident, Deepak Sethiya (32) on a 5% commission. The police nabbed Sethiya from Santa Cruz airport on Tuesday after he landed in Mumbai. Sethiya’s interrogation led the cops to Nigerian national, Cyril Theophilius (29), staying in Ambuj Wadi, Malwani. Both Sethiya and Theophilius have been booked. Cops found transactions of over Rs 80 lakh in the bank accounts, now frozen. Cops said they will soon arrest four others in the case. 

 

 

The Times of India, January 30, 2014

Spurned Delhi man puts city student’s profile on porn site

Girl Turned Down Neighbour’s Kin Visiting City In ’13

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The city’s cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) detained a 21-year-old computer engineering student from New Delhi last week for allegedly posting a girl’s photos, personal details and mobile number on a porn website. However, the youth was let off after the girl refused to file an FIR on learning the culprit was a relative of her neighbours. 

    The 20-year-old instrumentation engineering student, went to the police after she started receiving obscene calls from across the country, as well as Canada, Australia and Singapore. Following her complaint, the crime branch set up a team led by inspector Mukund Pawar. Investigations revealed that the relatives of the accused lived in the same Chembur housing society as the complainant. The youth had befriended the girl last October when he visited Mumbai and proposed to her in November, but she turned him down. He returned to Delhi planning revenge. 

    In the last week of December, the girl panicked as she began receiving calls from random numbers. She asked one caller how he got her number and learnt that her contact details were put up on a porn website. She also learnt of the existence of a Facebook profile which she had never created.
 

    The girl then confided in her parents, who approached the cyber crime cell. Police requested the servers of the porn website and Facebook for IP addresses of the person who had posted her details. They were surprised to find both originated from the same Delhi-based address. While a police team picked up the youth from the capital last week, the web hosts were requested to block the two pages.
 

    The youth admitted to his crime but claimed he had no malicious intent and considered the girl to be his “sister”. The girl, traumatized on learning of the identity of the culprit, refused to file an FIR. The youth was later released after a warning. Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (crime) said, “Cyber space emboldens criminals due to the anonymity it offers. Yet, we are usually successful in bringing the culprits to book.” 

 

Nallasopara resident held for obscene calls, messages 

 A youth who sent vulgar SMSes and videos to women was arrested by the cyber police cell on Sunday. Nallasopara resident Shubam Rai (19), who did odd jobs after failing Class X, was sent to police custody. He also had three SIM cards procured using fake documents.
An Andheri-based fashion designer complained she was receiving obscene messages, calls and porn videos on her cell phone. When she would block a number, Rai would call from another one. Police tracked the call records to Nallasopara.
-S Ahmed Ali | TNN

 

 

STALKER ALERT

Do not share your email ID with strangers
Do not share your personal mobile number
Keep checking your profile on social networking sites
Change passwords frequently
If you notice objectionable material on the internet, immediately approach the police
You may contact Mumbai police on 22621855, ask for the CCIC 

 

 

The Times of India, January 21, 2014

ACP’s Facebook account hacked

Mumbai: The Facebook account of assistant police commissioner Sunil Deshmukh, who is serving in the Dahisar division, was hacked into and his employment status changed to “former ACP”.  “I am very much in the force. I am on leave and came to know about it on Thursday. I will file a complaint once I resume office on July 15,” said Deshmukh. 

    Deshmukh, who originally belongs to Nashik, was with the Mumbai’s ATS for five years before being posted as senior inspector at Matunga police station. He was part of the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case as well as the 11/7 train blasts case. 

—Mateen Hafeez

The Times of India, July 12, 2013 

 

Doc frames former colleague of raping own daughter, held

CRIME IN CYBER WORLD BUSTED

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The city’s cyber crime investigation cell on Wednesday arrested the forensic department chief of Latur’s science laboratory, following a complaint by a former colleague. The accused, Dr Chandrakant Dode (54), a surgeon, had sent an email to forensic doctors across the country, accusing the complainant of raping his own daughter. 

    Dode told the police that he cooked up the allegation after being denied a promotion. Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of Mumbai crime branch, said, “We received a complaint about this case. It’s a serious offence. We assigned this case to the cyber cell and the officers have arrested the accused. We have filed the chargesheet against the accused.”   The police said the complainant, a senior surgen posted in Mumbai, was in trauma after he learnt about the email. 

 
    The police said Dode, who was earlier posted at JJ Hospital in the city, had sent the email to at least 55 doctors. “Dode wrote an email stating that the complainant had raped his own 22-year-old daughter. Dode had sent the email through a fictitious ID. We arrested Dode on Wednesday. Our 424-page charge sheet contains concrete evidence against him,” said senior inspector Mukund Pawar who heads the cyber cell. The probe was supervised by additional commissioner Niket Kaushik. 

    Pawar said the email, sent on June 10, 2012, had a news story with headline, “Doc father rapes 22-year-old daughter in Mumbai.” Pawar said the news item had, in fact, appeared in an English newspaper relating to a case in Indore. “Dode had copied the news item and edited it, putting the complainant’s name in the place of the accused. He even copied readers’ comment from the real story and pasted it in the edited/fake story. Dode even asked the email recipients to comment on it,” added Pawar. 

    More than 79 people from the UK, US, India and Pakistan commented that the rapist father should be hanged.  Dode had operated the fictitious email account from his office. His personal computer and the office computer’s hard discs have been sent for forensic analysis. The police have 18 witnesses against Dode in this case. 

 

The Times of India, June 27, 2013

MHA puts cops on duty to net young cyber criminals

Mateen Hafeez TNN
Mumbai: The Union home ministry has issued an unusual advisory to cops across the country—it has listed various measures to reduce growing instances of cyber crime among minors. Among them is a suggestion that young policemen visit cyber cafes under cover “pretending to be minors” to monitor children’s activities.
    According to the advisory, “if any cyber cafe owner allows minors to surf porn sites or carry out other crimes, he could be arrested”. It has mentioned the kinds of cyber crimes children have been found to indulge in, such as stalking, harassment, defamation, character assassination and sending threat emails, and suggested what sections of the Information Technology Act can be invoked in the cases.
 

    The advisory, which the city police received recently, states that in today’s technology-savvy era, children are prone to using the computer, hence the need to concentrate on how the police can make the use of internet and electronic gadgets safer for them.
    Observing that children are also exposed to sexually explicit material, the MHA has said it must be controlled. “For this, awareness programmes can be conducted at schools and colleges. Moreover, the police cell handling the juvenile section could conduct meetings with parents and suggest what can be done to save children from indulging in cyber crimes,” the advisory says.  

Cop site may list safety tips for young cyber users Home Ministry To Police: Minors Involved In Identity Theft, Hacking
    The Union home ministry recently issued an advisory for police across the country to curb growing instances of cyber crime amongst minors.
    The advisory also included suggestions such as listing out safety measures or tips on internet usage on the state police’s web site, or creating a children’s corner where internet tips could be explained to children in a simple and easy-to-understand language. Assistance on the subject could be sought from Nasscom, the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) as well as the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), it stated.
 

    Police sources said these days, even school-going children have internet facility on their mobile phones. “Parents must therefore keep monitoring their phones. It could help them find out whether their child is misusing the internet,” said an officer.
 

    There have been cases where school-going children were found to have made derogatory remarks about their classmates on socialnetworking web sites.
    Some are more serious. A young boy, for instance, had sent out a threat email following the Delhi High Court bomb blast. The email's origin was traced and the boy was arrested. Then, around half a dozen minors were caught by Mumbai’s cyber police for sending terror or threat emails to television channels claiming to be members of terror outfits, simply as attention-seeking stunts. A 16-year-old was convicted in one such case in Mumbai.
    “Some minors have been found involved in identity theft, hacking of emails or accounts on social networking web sites, and there is unwanted exposure of sexually explicit material. There is a need to conduct special programmes and skill development for those manning child lines,” the advisory stated.
 

VIRTUAL POLICING  

Home ministry advisory says: FOR POLICEMEN Pose as minors and visit cyber cafés Conduct meetings with parents; interact with them and generate awareness about children’s internet habits Those manning child lines should be aware about internet use and misuse
 

FOR PARENTS Monitor children’s internet browsing history regularly Also, monitor content of web sites children visit as well as their e-activities Ensure that children aren’t using any fake email account
 

PSYCHIATRISTS TO PARENTS Do not deal too strictly with children Do not expect them to behave in a mature fashion; they are kids, after all Do not pass value judgements if found guilty Schools should create a friendly and democratic environment for kids Take what kids say with a pinch of salt Educate them about cyber space and its dangers Take the child to a counsellor if found misusing internet despite being told of its dangers  

Sections of the IT Act and the Indian Penal Code that can be invoked in case of cyber crimes:
 

CYBER STALKING When a victim is repeatedly and persistently followed and pursued online or with electronic gadgets.
    Sections 66A, 66C, 66E of the IT Act for hacking could be invoked, along with Section 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended
    to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code
 

CYBER BULLYING Acts of harassment, embarrassment, and taunts, insults or threatening behaviour towards a victim by the use of internet
    Sections for cyber stalking could be invoked for cyber bullying as well
 

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY This is a serious offence Sections 67, 57A and 67B of the IT Act, and sections 292 and 293 (for sale etc of obscene books or material) of the IPC could be invoked
 

HACKING OF EMAILS Section 66 of the IT Act could be invoked 

The Times of India, April 15, 2012

Woman CEO of MNC busted for cybercrime

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Cybercrime is perceived as the province of depraved men. But a disturbing trend has come to light of late. Increasingly, women are resorting to online tactics to achieve some nefarious end.

Recently, the woman CEO of a multinational corporation’s India operations was detained by the police for cyber-harassment of a co-worker in HR —also a woman.

The CEO, aged 43, posted derogatory remarks about the HR executive, aged 39, on a consumer website to malign her. She described the victim as a sex pest who eyed young men newly recruited into the company and was also “having a good time with a former employee”, said an officer with the police’s cyber crime investigation cell. The CEO was traced through the IP address from where the posts were made.

“In her police complaint, the victim, who is incidentally unmarried, told us that someone was posting comments about her character, or lack thereof, and that she was described as someone who frequently slept with her colleagues and ‘spoiled’ them,” said a police officer. “She said it all started when she found a change in the way her colleagues perceived her, so much so that she found it difficult to work with them. It was only when her friends and well-wishers asked her about the online posts that she realized what the matter was. She told us she was taken aback and did not know how to react.”
CEO was jealous of colleague’s rise through the ranks
Mumbai: The woman CEO of an MNC’s country operations was recently detained by the police for cyber-harassment of a colleague. She would post on a website derogatory remarks about the colleague, who is an HR executive. The police sought from the website the internet protocol address from where the posts were submitted. “It was found to originate from an apartment in a residential complex in Goregaon. When we reached there, we were shocked to find that the house belonged to the CEO of the firm where the victim worked,” the officer said. “Initially, the CEO was not cooperating. She even accused us of harassing her and said we should conduct our probe in the ‘right direction’ rather than ‘roam here and there’. But we had technical evidence. When we confronted her with it and emphasized that the IP address belonged to her own PC, she surrendered. Her husband, who is in a senior post in a private firm, seemed helpless.”

The CEO broke down at the police station. “She found herself in front of the victim, who she could not look in the eye. She even had tears,” the officer said.

“In a written apology, she said she was jealous as the victim was getting quick promotions. So, she started writing the online posts, the website being one that is commonly visited by private companies, including her own, to do background checks on potential recruits. She wanted the management to take note of the posts and initiate action against the victim.”

The Times of India, October 17, 2011

Women suffer cybercrime in silence

Only Six Of 800 Police Complaints In The Last Nine Months Got Translated Into FIRs

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Women are often silent victims of crime. Cybercrime is no different. Though an increasing number of cybercrime victims are women, very few come forward to lodge FIRs. “Of late, more of such women are becoming open about their experiences. However, when it comes to filing an FIR, they seem to chicken out. Our cybercrime investigation cell receives hundreds of complaints, but if they don’t translate into FIRs, what good are they?” said a police officer.

In the last nine months, the cell received around 800 complaints, most of them from women; but only six complainants lodged FIRs. “In cases of cyber harassment, we normally carry out a preliminary probe considering the sensitivities involved. But once the identity of the offender is established, the complainant prefers not to pursue the case. Without an FIR, the police cannot put the law in motion and make arrests,” the officer said. “Take this case, for example. A woman employee of a private firm complained of receiving an obscene email. Our investigation revealed the sender to be a woman friend of hers who posed as a man. We tracked the sender down but had to close the matter there as the email’s recipient did not want to file an FIR.

“We understand that the sender was her friend. But given the nature of the email’s contents, she should have filed an FIR. The sender created a fake email account. She then asked the victim, who is married and has a child, if she was being sexually satisfied by her colleagues. The sender also wrote that ‘he’ would give her ‘full satisfaction’.”

A cyber cell officer said women victims are scared of their names being published in newspapers if they lodge FIRs. “They think this would tarnish their image. A common complaint we get from women is nude photos of them being uploaded. Such photographs are clicked when a relationship is in its prime. Later, when it sours, the ex-partner uses the photos for revenge. Our appeal to victims is to come forward and lodge FIRs.”


WEB SAFETY
Never share passwords, even with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Avoid having common email accounts Do not reply to emails of unknown origin Do not share old or intimate pictures with new online friends Never click or reply to unknown emails Attend classes, if need be, to become tech-savvy If you are planning to launch a website, approach a reputed registrar to get your domain name registered. Many registrars follow sloppy procedures, permitting unverified data transfers Get the domain name locked Register a trademark to protect your domain name from theft Buy all top extensions (.com, .co.in, etc) for your domain name to prevent against theft and your web traffic being misled Restrict access to your admin email account The best way to secure your email account against spam bots is to host it on your personal domain. Email accounts on popular mail services are always at risk of being hijacked Create your password with a string of alphabets and numerals to make it strong. Change it frequently

The Times of India, October 17, 2011

Classmate hounds girl using group ID

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: This is a case that illustrates the perils of using group email IDs. Sometime ago, an information technology engineer from VJTI complained to the police about receiving an offensive email from her college friends that described her private parts and her sex life.

The police’s cyber cell conducted a probe and found that the email account belonged to 60 students of her batch. “The group comprised 10 girls and 50 boys. Who among them sent her the email? The needle of suspicion fell on almost everyone in the group,” said a police officer. “More emails followed, each more unsavoury than the preceding one. They also contained expletives. We first got a list of all 60 users of the email account. Then we traced the IP address of the sender and zeroed in on him.

“This classmate had a crush on the victim, but was ignored by her. It was a case of jealousy; he sought revenge. But then he had never spoken to the victim about his feelings for her; so how would she know? Still, he did not like her interacting with other male students. “So what does he do? Harass her… We found that he had sent the emails from his laptop. We found the emails in his outbox.

“During questioning, he confessed to the crime. He told us that he found the girl’s attitude humiliating. Perhaps more humiliating for him was to face his father at the police station.”


The Times of India, October 17, 2011

Engg student in spot for uploading songs online

— Mateen Hafeez & Mahima Sikand

Mumbai: The cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) arrested an engineering student for illegally uploading movie songs on his website. The suspect, Kalpesh Patel, was arrested from Rajkot and brought to Mumbai.

“We have arrested Patel for violating the copyright rules. He had started a website where one can register and download songs for free of charge,” said Deven Bharti, additional commissioner of police (detection). Patel has been remanded in judicial custody.

The complainant, Indian Music Industry (IMI), alleged that Patel’s website www.songsdl.com hosted about 30,000 popular Hindi songs that could be downloaded.

The Times of India, July 9, 2011

FEW VICTIMS OPT FOR LEGAL REDRESS

Those Who Send Obscene SMSs Can Face Jail Time Under IT Act

Mateen Hafeez & Shibu Thomas | TNN

Over the last two years, the cyber crime cell has received only 200 complaints from people who were victims of obscene text and multimedia messages. However, police estimate that there are many more people who are suffering silently. Victims, most of whom are women, are hesitant to approach the police even though there are stringent laws under the amended Information Technology (IT) Act. The seventeen-year-old student of L S Parkar College at Goregaon (W) who lodged a complaint against her professor last week for sending her lewd text messages is an exception to the norm, said the police. The lecturer, Rahul Sarangle, was arrested and booked under Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66(A) of the IT Act.

According to advocate Arfan Sait who practises at the Bombay high court, India is one of the few countries that has the harshest punishments for transmitting vulgar SMSs and MMSs through mobile phones and over the internet. In other words, sending obscene messages or emails could land an offender in jail. “There are various sections under the IPC that can be applied including outraging the modesty of a woman and obscenity,’’ said Sait.

An SMS is considered an electronic record, as the mobile phone comes under the category of ‘computer’ under the IT Act.

Earlier, suspects would be booked for outraging the modesty of a woman. But under Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act, if a person is convicted of the charge of sending an obscene SMS, he could face up to five years in jail and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. If the same person is caught a second time, he faces 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2 lakh. The offences are categorized as cognizable crimes.

Lesser punishments can also be imposed under the IPC—ranging from Section 209 (obscene act in public place), Section 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty by assaulting her) and Section 509 (outraging a woman’s modesty by word or gesture or act). Critics, however, say that while the law has a nasty bite, convictions are rare. “While the police register cases, there are hardly any convictions,” said an official.

Harsh Laws
Under Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act, if a person is convicted of the charge of sending an obscene SMS, he could face up to five years in jail and a fine of Rs 1 lakh
If the same person is caught a second time, he faces 10 years imprisonment and a fine of
Rs 2 lakh
The police can also invoke Sections 66 A (sending offensive messages through communication service), 66 E (violation of privacy) of the IT Act
Depending on the nature of the case, the police can also arrest a person under Section 509 (outraging the modesty of a woman) of the IPC, punishment for which is two to seven years

SEXTING CELEBRITIES
March 2008 | A Delhi-based BCom graduate was arrested and brought to Mumbai for allegedly sending obscene text messages to Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen
February 2007 | The police arrested a freelance mediaperson for allegedly sending obscene phone messages to an aspiring actress and dancer
March 2007 | Actor Nagma has filed a complaint with the Bandra police stating she was a victim of a string of threatening and vulgar SMSs
STATUS | All the cases are under trial
New trend of sexting can have disastrous outcome & ruin lives
India is not without its share of sexting tales; the most infamous being the widely circulated MMS of two Delhi high school students in 2004.

Said Nishant Shah, director (research) of the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, “Sexting is essentially about mobile phones. While there is no study in India on sexting, it’s obvious from our sessions with youngsters that sexting is a part of the new communication patterns emerging among young people.”

At times, sexting can have disastrous outcomes. While Chitra is a nervous wreck who feels she may have invited the sexts with her behaviour, American teen Jessica Logan committed suicide in 2008 after her ex-boyfriend circulated nude pictures that she had earlier in their relationship MMSed him. Shah said, “During our research in Bihar, we came across youngsters in that state who have suffered a great deal when an older family member read SMSs that they had sent.”

Any text message to a male friend could be misconstrued as sexting in non-metro parts of India,
he added. Experts said that measures should be taken by families and society at large to protect youngsters from the ills of sexting. “Victims could feel shocked, violated and frightened,’’ said Dr Shetty. “The words jump from the screen bringing a deep sense of disgust and a feeling of pain. The experience may be converted to bad memories if counselling is not done.’’

The Times of India, June 19, 2011

Woman gets obscene email from friend

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) of the Mumbai police, while probing an obscene email sent to a female employee of a private firm, found that the mail was in fact sent by her friend who posed as a man.

After the police tracked down the culprit, the matter was closed as the victim did not want to file an FIR against her friend.

A police source said, “The culprit sent a mail to the victim from a fake email account on May 2. The mail contained vulgar and obscene sentences. The culprit, who posed as one Prakash Jadhav, asked the victim, who is married and has a child, if she was getting satisfaction from having sex with a few colleagues. The sender also wrote that he would give her full satisfaction if she agreed to have sex with him.”

After receiving the mail, the victim (31) approached the CCIC and gave a written complaint. The victim suspected that some of her colleagues may have been behind the vulgar emails.

“However, when we traced the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the sender, we found the computer was being operated by a woman who turned out to be the victim’s friend. She was asked to come to the CCIC office and questioned about it. During interrogation, she confessed to her crime,” said a source. According to police, the accused did not like the victim’s “malefriendly” behaviour and wanted to “save” her from any sexual exploitation.

The suspect, a graduate, who lives in Bhandup, also works at a private firm. The two had met on a train around six years ago. “They would chat through net and would visit each other’s offices. During several visits, the accused felt that the victim was “too friendly” with her male colleagues. She compiled the mail and sent it to several of the victim’s colleagues as well,” said an officer.

“After the victim was told that her friend was behind the crime, she said she did not want to prolong the issue by lodging an FIR,” said the police officer.


The Times of India, May 26, 2011