The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has recently released a public notice advising all citizens to authenticate e-notices that are received via email. The advisory cautions against falling prey to false emails camouflaged as important official government notices. The I4C’s public advertisement warns all citizens about fraudulent emails designed to deceive and defraud unsuspecting individuals. It suggests many countermeasures that can be used to handle such emails, including verifying the authenticity of the email’s origin.
The advice issued by I4C includes if the email address ends with “gov.in.”, search the internet for information about the officials mentioned in the email and contact the mentioned department directly to verify the email. Last year, the I4C also issued a similar advisory warning users about fake emails impersonating the chief executive officer, with subject lines such as court notification and urgent notification.
According to a statement, the I4C said, that these false emails are targeted mainly at various government offices and people, falsely accusing them of cyber-crimes and wanting and inducing the recipient to reply. Earlier in the month, the Ministry of Finance issued a public advisory cautioning email users concerning fake emails that falsely employ the signatures, stamps, names, and logos of various authorities, including the Cyber Cell of Delhi, the Intelligence Bureau, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau and Delhi Police Cyber Crime and Economic Offence.The advisory highlights that these deceptive emails often include attachments falsely accusing recipients of serious crimes. These crimes may include child pornography, pedophilia, cyber pornography, and distributing sexually explicit material.
Receivers of any such email should be quite aware of this fraudulent attempt. It is informed to the general public that any such emails with attachments should not be responded to, and such cases may be reported to the nearest police station or cyber police station.
