Indians have lost over $800 million to online scams in 2025
More than half the money was lost to scammers based in Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, according to the report.
Data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, a Home Ministry unit, revealed that the online scams originate from high-security locations, believed to be controlled by Chinese operators.
The scam centers coerce trafficked individuals, including Indians, to target unsuspecting individuals, according to the Indian Express.
An Indian government source told the newspaper that the Foreign Ministry recently organized a meeting with Cambodian officials in New Delhi to discuss an action plan to combat the menace. The Cambodians reportedly requested that India provide the exact geographical coordinates of the scam centers operating in the Southeast Asian country, so that they could take action.
In March, New Delhi repatriated 549 Indian citizens who had been rescued from cyber-crime centers located along the Myanmar-Thailand border. Indians, along with citizens of other Asian and African countries, were lured to Thailand or Myanmar with fake information technology job offers, only to be trafficked to cyber-crime centers in Myanmar's ungoverned border areas.
'With the help of intelligence agencies and testimonies of rescued people, the Indian government has identified at least 45 such scam compounds in Cambodia, five in Laos, and one in Myanmar,' an Indian government official told the Indian Express.
This issue first came to light in September 2024, when media reports stated that thousands of Indians were trapped in several Southeast Asian countries where they were forced to work as 'cyber slaves.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
2 days ago
- Russia Today
India giving ‘all possible assistance' to nurse on death row in Yemen
New Delhi is offering 'all possible assistance' for Nimisha Priya, a 36-year old nurse who is on death row in Yemen for murdering her business partner, Indian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday. The authorities in Yemen have postponed her execution, which was scheduled for Wednesday, following the intervention of Indian officials, private citizens and an influential Muslim cleric from Nimisha's home state of Kerala. 'We have provided legal assistance, and also appointed a lawyer to assist the family,' Jaiswal said in a press briefing, adding that India has also arranged for regular consular visits for her family. While coordinating with the Yemeni authorities, India is also 'in touch with some friendly governments in this regard,' the spokesman said without specifying the countries. VIDEO | Delhi: Responding to a question on the case of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia), while addressing a press briefing, said:"This is a sensitive matter. The Government of India has been providing all possible assistance. We have… Jaiswal added that Indian assistance included 'concerted efforts within the last few days to seek more time for the family of Miss Nimisha Priya to reach a mutually agreeable solution with the other party.' Nimisha was arrested in July 2017 for poisoning Talal Abdo Mahdi, a Yemeni with whom she opened a clinic in 2015. She was found guilty and sentenced to death in 2020. Her final appeal was dismissed by Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council in November 2023. Nimisha's only recourse is to offer the victim's clan 'blood money' as a form of financial compensation in exchange for freedom. While crowdsourcing efforts from the Indian diaspora have managed to raise more than $40,000 for the initial negotiation, Mahdi's family are not willing to accept compensation. 'The pressures we've faced haven't changed us,' Mahdi's brother, Talal Abdul Fattah Mahdi, wrote in a social media post in Arabic, according to the News Laundry website. 'Our demand is clear: retribution, and nothing else, no matter what.' On Friday, India's Supreme Court allowed Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council, a private organization trying to secure the release of Nimisha, to approach the Indian government for permission to travel to Yemen for negotiations to stall her execution. Indians are presently banned from visiting the war-torn country.
Russia Today
5 days ago
- Russia Today
Indians have lost over $800 million to online scams in 2025
Indians lost about $820 million to online scams in the first five months of 2025, the Indian Express newspaper has said, citing a report for the country's Home Ministry. More than half the money was lost to scammers based in Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, according to the report. Data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, a Home Ministry unit, revealed that the online scams originate from high-security locations, believed to be controlled by Chinese operators. The scam centers coerce trafficked individuals, including Indians, to target unsuspecting individuals, according to the Indian Express. An Indian government source told the newspaper that the Foreign Ministry recently organized a meeting with Cambodian officials in New Delhi to discuss an action plan to combat the menace. The Cambodians reportedly requested that India provide the exact geographical coordinates of the scam centers operating in the Southeast Asian country, so that they could take action. In March, New Delhi repatriated 549 Indian citizens who had been rescued from cyber-crime centers located along the Myanmar-Thailand border. Indians, along with citizens of other Asian and African countries, were lured to Thailand or Myanmar with fake information technology job offers, only to be trafficked to cyber-crime centers in Myanmar's ungoverned border areas. 'With the help of intelligence agencies and testimonies of rescued people, the Indian government has identified at least 45 such scam compounds in Cambodia, five in Laos, and one in Myanmar,' an Indian government official told the Indian Express. This issue first came to light in September 2024, when media reports stated that thousands of Indians were trapped in several Southeast Asian countries where they were forced to work as 'cyber slaves.'
Russia Today
09-07-2025
- Russia Today
Indian state files lawsuit against Swiss-based company for oil spill
The Indian state of Kerala has filed a lawsuit against Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), seeking $1.1 billion in damages, after one of the Switzerland-based company's container vessels sank and leaked fuel into the Arabian Sea in May, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The Kerala High Court has ordered the arrest, seizure, and detention of another MSC vessel docked at Vizhinjam Port in the state, until it provides security to cover the claimed amount of $1.1 billion, according to the report. In May, MSC ELSA 3, a Liberian-flagged vessel carrying diesel, furnace oil, and containers with hazardous cargo, capsized off Kerala due to a load imbalance. The ship was carrying 84.44 metric tons of diesel, 367.1 metric tons of furnace oil, and 640 containers, including 13 containing hazardous cargo and 12 with calcium carbide. The Kerala government stated in its court filing that the incident caused significant harm to the state's marine ecosystem, resulting in massive pollution, oil slicks, and floating cargo that has severely impacted the environment, coastal fisheries, and public health, Reuters said in its report. In June, Greenpeace South Asia official Avinash Chanchal told The Hindu newspaper that satellite images showed that the oil slick from the ship measured about 5.7 miles-long (9.2 kilometers) in the sea with a visible silver-metallic reflection on June 1, and by June 9, the slick still had a length of about 1.4 miles. Following the incident in May, the Kerala state government advised local fishermen to stay out of the sea and provided financial and food assistance to approximately 105,518 families dependent on the fishing industry. Besides the oil in the fallen containers, marine fuel used in the ship also leaked as a result of the accident, the Kerala chief minister's office said in a statement in May.
