UPI fraud to sextortion, shocking rise in Cybercrime! Know how HP is dealing with this threat

tech.hindustantimes.com:

India is being applauded for following a path of digitalization and introducing the revolutionary digital payment mode UPI. However, digitalization has also led to some serious UPI fraud and crimes. In a concerning trend, Himachal Pradesh has seen a shocking surge in cybercrime complaints. Officials have reported at least one complaint every hour which includes cases of UPI fraud, job fraud, sextortion, and blackmailing. Know what officials have reported about these cybercrime cases.

According to a report by PTI, from January to October 2022, the state recorded 4,593 complaints, which escalated to a startling 8,152 in the same period in 2023. Financial frauds, social networking issues, and miscellaneous complaints witnessed a 77% increase, with Mandi, Kangra, and Shimla emerging as the primary targets, as per police data.

The breakdown of cybercrime categories reveals alarming spikes in specific areas. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) frauds skyrocketed from 436 to 1,145, job frauds surged from 234 to 600, sextortion and blackmailing cases rose from 162 to 199, and incidents of fake or hacked social media accounts increased from 706 to 1,314. Officials reported that apart from the financial frauds, there has also been a surge in cybercrime against women in the form of blackmailing and threatening, stalking, defamation, morphing, fake profile, and internet crime through online gaming and sextortion which targets older wealthy men.

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Superintendent of Police Bhupinder Negi says that this surge is not only due to an increase in cybercrime but also because of an increase in awareness. Large-scale awareness campaigns, particularly targeting the youth, have encouraged more people to come