KOCHI: As people are staying at home during the lockdown, cybercriminals have become active as debit card details, e-shopping accounts and fake SIM cards are on sale through secretive social media platforms and dark web. A Kochi-based cyber research agency, Technisanct, has raised the alarm with national agencies about a potential cybersecurity threat during the lockdown.
Technisanct research team found that carding products are widely being sold to Indian users as claimed by Telegram channel called Carders World (t.me/cardersworldtrustable). Carding is a term used for describing the trafficking of credit card, bank account and other personal information online. Activities also encompass procurement of details, and money laundering techniques.
“This is a group with 3,000 members claiming to sell carded products from Amazon to Indians. They have also highlighted their trustworthiness by sharing the transaction details made by a few buyers. Also, the user is selling multiple money-loaded accounts with an online shopping platform. Multiple posts are made in these specific groups regarding doubling E-wallet in Paytm,” Nandakishore Harikumar, chief executive officer (CEO) of Technisanct, said.
Another major scam that was noticed is a Telegram group named Techserve, which is selling fake SIM cards that can be used without proper verification which may be used for ordering products like guns and drugs. “The said group has more than 3,800 members. The vendor also claims to provide fake Paytm KYC along with details of users who are providing testimonials to his services. Another vendor selling these fake KYC SIM cards is Simshubproofs. These vendors are regularly serving customers and have also shared details of SIM cards being delivered to customers in different parts of the nation,” he said.
According to Nandakishore, it came to their notice that the majority of customers for carded products and fake SIM cards were youngsters. “We shared this information with India Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) to help take necessary action. On April 17, we informed CERT and the Home Ministry via email about all these groups operating on Telegram. These groups are also actively trading other data, including personal accounts. We also warn users to desist from buying from these vendors as most of these providers are scammers,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources in the Cyber police station said that people should be on high alert during the lockdown period. “As a majority of people are working from home, it is easy for fraudsters to breach into personal computers and mobile phones. Usually, office computers and data networks are well protected using firewalls. However, personal gadgets can be breached even with malware. There is a rise in the number of incidents of cybercrime, especially online cheating, in the state” an official said.
fake sim
Another major scam that was noticed is a Telegram group named Techserve, which is claiming to sell fake SIM cards that can be used without proper verification which may be used for ordering products like guns and drugs