Social media platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram have once again been the first choice of cyber criminals. In the statistics of cyber crime committed through social media platforms released by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), WhatsApp has once again been the most misused social media platform. This year, many cases of digital arrest have come to light, in which criminals have defrauded people of crores of rupees by making video calls through WhatsApp.

Most frauds happen through WhatsApp

According to the report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, a total of 43,797 complaints of cyber fraud were registered in the first quarter of 2024, out of which the highest number of 22,680 complaints were of fraud committed through WhatsApp. Apart from this, the number of crimes through Telegram has been 19,800. According to the MHA's Annual Report 2023-24, cyber criminals have used the platform of Google Services to initiate these crimes. According to the report, the Google Advertisements platform helps cyber criminals to do targeted advertisements.

Investment scam

Most of the people around the world are targeted especially through investment scams. Apart from this, cyber crimes include money laundering scams, digital arrests etc. Apart from Google platforms, cyber criminals have used Facebook ads in an organized manner to commit cyber fraud. Cyber ​​criminals used Facebook to deliver fake landing apps to people's smartphones.

The cyber security wing of the Home Ministry, I4C, is making every possible effort to stop the increasing cyber crimes in the country. Recently, the government has blocked thousands of WhatsApp numbers. These WhatsApp accounts were created with international numbers and were being operated by cyber criminals. Incidents of digital arrest were being carried out with Indian users through WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is the most used instant messaging app not only in India but all over the world, with more than 295 crore active users. This instant messaging app of Meta is also very popular in India. Its daily active users number in crores, due to which it is the first choice for cyber criminals.