Job scams, sextortion cases see massive 400% hike in third quarter, reveals government data

Over the past few months, cases of sextortion and part-time job scams have climbed dramatically in the country, leading to a challenging task for authorities. Government data has revealed that complaints related to job scams skyrocketed by a massive 400 per cent, transforming into the latest concern for law enforcing agencies.

The data shows that in August, 2,252 cases were reported on the government portal and helpline. But, the situation rapidly deteriorated September as the numbers soared past 9,000, leaving officials stunned.

In October there was a further spike, with reported cases crossing the threshold of 9,400. The sudden spike in job scams is unprecedented and has thrown law enforcement agencies into a tizzy, trying to figure out the several causes that may have led to the surge

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At about the same time, police and other legal agencies had to deal with another critical challenge – cases of sextortion.

Though initially unnoticed in government data, this crime exploded onto the scene in September, with a sudden surge of 4,376 reported cases. The figures climbed even higher in October, breaching 4,800, as victims reached out to government portals and helplines seeking justice. Investment scam complaints also saw a surge in the third quarter of the fiscal in comparison to the first quarter.

With the Union Home Ministry stepping in, a surprising downturn emerged amidst this digital chaos in cases related to Chinese loan app frauds. These scams, which had claimed lives across the country, witnessed a decline starting January. Despite an average 7,900 cases monthly, the Union government received only 7,100 complaints in August. By October, the numbers further fell to 7,052.

Last week, MHA, with the help of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, blocked about 100 websites involved in organised investment, such as part-time job frauds.

The ministry said these websites, which facilitated task-based and organised illegal investment related economic crimes, were learnt to have been operated by overseas actors using digital advertisement, chat messengers and rented accounts.

“It was also learnt that the proceeds from the large-scale economic frauds were seen to be laundered out of India using card network, crypto currency, overseas ATM withdrawals and international Fintech companies. In this regard, several complaints were received through 1930 helpline and NCRP and these offences were posing significant threat to the citizens and involved data security concerns,” the MHA said in a statement.