Latest news with #TelecomDepartment
News18
21-05-2025
- Business
- News18
'Impersonating Myself To Me': Paytm Founder Shares Hilarious Exchange With Scamster
Last Updated: Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma posted WhatsApp messages in which the fraudster introduced himself as "Vijay Shekhar Sharma" and asked him to save his "new phone number" Titled 'Impersonating myself to me", Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma on Wednesday shared what appeared to be a humorous exchange between him and a scamster, who was allegedly trying to pose as him to extract sensitive information about the company's funds. In a lengthy note on his X, Sharma posted a chain of WhatsApp messages in which the fraudster introduced himself as 'Vijay Shekhar Sharma" and asked him to save his 'new phone number". The encounter left internet users in splits, but spotlighted that not even those like him are spared when it comes to scamsters using sophisticated manoeuvres, advanced techniques, fake profiles, malicious links and impersonation. In this case, however, no harm was caused as Sharma took it in his stride and used the situation for comic relief. In one of the messages, the alleged fraudster urged him to check and report back on the company's available funds. The impersonator also demanded that he share the number and contact details of the finance head of the company, and went so far as to ask him to forward a suspicious .exe file—disguised as a GST document—to the finance executive. Notably, the Telecom Department on Wednesday introduced the 'Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)' that enables enhanced intelligence sharing with banks, UPI service providers and financial institutions, a step it believes would mark a major step towards tackling cyber fraud and financial crime. According to DoT, this will enhance cyber protection and validation checks in case of mobile numbers flagged with this tool, when digital payment is proposed to be made to such numbers. FRI allows for swift, targeted, and collaborative action against suspected frauds in both telecom and financial domains, an official release said. '…Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced sharing of 'Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)' with stakeholders — an output from a multi-dimensional analytical tool developed as part of the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) to empower financial institutions with advance actionable intelligence for cyber fraud prevention," the release added.. It is pertinent to mention that Airtel, earlier this month, launched a fraud detection solution that will identify and block malicious websites across all communication Over-The-Top (OTT) apps and platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, email, and others in real-time. The service is currently available in Haryana circle, with a nationwide roll-out planned soon. First Published: May 21, 2025, 23:58 IST
Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma shares hilarious chat with scammer: ‘Impersonating myself to me'
Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma encountered an alleged scammer who tried to impersonate him to obtain sensitive company information. Sharma took to the social media platform X to share screenshots of a humorous exchange with the alleged scammer, penning a post titled "Impersonating myself to me". He revealed the chain of WhatsApp messages in which the fraudster introduced himself as Vijay Shekhar Sharma and asked the real Sharma to save his 'new' phone number. In one of the messages, the alleged fraudster also urged Sharma to check and report back on the company's available funds. The impersonator also demanded that Sharma share the number and contact details of the finance head of the company, and went so far as to ask Sharma to forward a suspicious .exe file—disguised as a GST document—to the finance executive. Vijay Shekhar Sharma played along with the alleged scammer and also hilariously urged the impersonator to consider a salary hike. The encounter, which left many netizens in stitches, also spotlighted the darker side of the digital world, where scamsters target unsuspecting individuals by using sophisticated manoeuvres, advanced techniques, fake profiles, malicious links, and impersonation to commit cyber fraud. The Telecom Department introduced the 'Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)' on Wednesday. This indicator enables enhanced intelligence sharing with banks, UPI service providersand financial institutions. The department believes this would mark a major step towards tackling cyber fraud and financial crime. According to the DoT, this will enhance cyber protection and validation checks for mobile numbers flagged with this tool when digital payment is proposed to be made to such numbers. An official release said FRI allows for swift, targeted, and collaborative action against suspected fraud in the telecom and financial domains. "...Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced sharing of 'Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)' with stakeholders -- an output from a multi-dimensional analytical tool developed as part of the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) to empower financial institutions with advance actionable intelligence for cyber fraud prevention," the DoT release stated.
NDTV
21-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
"Impersonating Myself To Me": Paytm CEO Shares Exchange With Scamster
New Delhi: Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the chief of Paytm left his followers in splits today, sharing screenshots of his conversation with someone impersonating him. The imposter, a scammer, was out to extract sensitive information about the company's funds and asked him multiple questions about the funds and contact details of the finance head of the company. He said his phone was being formatted so he did not have anyone's number. Titling the post "Impersonating myself to me", Mr Sharma provided multiple screenshots of the long conversation, where the scammer introduced himself as Vijay Shekhar Sharma and asked the real Sharma to save his "new" phone number and questioned whether he was in the office. The Paytm chief played along. In course of the conversation, the scammer asked Mr Sharma to check and report back on the company's available funds. He also demanded a screenshot of the account books. In another message, he asked Mr Sharma to forward a suspicious .exe file-disguised as a GST document-to the finance executive. The last message from the screenshots was from Mr Sharma, where he asked for a salary hike. The encounter spotlighted the darker side of the digital world, where unsuspecting individuals are targeted by scamsters using sophisticated manoeuvres, advanced techniques, fake profiles, malicious links and impersonation. On Wednesday, the Telecom Department introduced the 'Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)' that enables enhanced intelligence sharing with banks, UPI service providers and financial institutions. It is expected that the step would help tackle cyber fraud and financial crimes.
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Won't be able to operate post FY26 without government's timely support on AGR: Vodafone Idea to DoT
New Delhi: Telecom operator Vodafone Idea told the Telecom Department that without the government's timely support on AGR, it will not be able to operate beyond FY26 as the bank funding discussions will not move forward. The embattled telco shot off a letter to the Telecom Department on April 17, 2025, making a strong case for a lifeline, saying "no support will lead to a point of no return". "Without GoI's (Government of India) timely support on AGR, VIL will not be able to operate beyond FY26 as the bank funding discussions will not move forward," VIL CEO Akshaya Moondra wrote in a letter to the DoT secretary. A query sent to Vodafone Idea (VIL) did not elicit a response. It is pertinent to mention that the Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a fresh plea of Vodafone Idea seeking waiver of around ₹30,000 crore adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih was urged by senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the telecom firm, that the plea needed an urgent hearing. The bench is likely to hear the plea on May 19. Vodafone Idea, in the letter, cautioned DoT that without debt disbursement from banks, the investments it planned will not take place. "Resultantly, operational performance improvement will be stalled. More importantly, the funds raised by the company will be utilised soon and the entire capex cycle will come to a halt. In such a case, the entire fund raising done over last 12 months and investment done so far by the company, as also the equity stake of government including the recent conversion, will lose value," VIL said. According to Vodafone Idea, without government support and in case VIL is not able to pay the AGR dues , the company will have to go into a process of NCLT which would be a long-drawn process. In such a scenario, the network as well as spectrum assets will lose value with the service being disrupted even for a short period, the telco said. VIL said about 200 million users would be affected and will have to port out, in such a case. Timely support will primarily benefit the general public and Indian economy at large, it said. While it will ensure continuity of services to about 200 million subscribers, it will also offer continued direct /indirect employment to about 30,000 people and positive returns to VIL's over 6 million shareholders. Voda Idea is understood to have said that the government is the largest stakeholder in VIL (49 per cent) and in the absence of urgent intervention and support, it will itself have most to lose in case VIL is marginalised or cannot continue operations as a consequence of impact of AGR judgement. The company argued that without Centre's support, VIL's EBITDA will decline going forward (due to loss of subscribers caused by lack of further capex investments) and the company will default on making the payment to the government for AGR instalment in March 2026 itself. "... plus the value of GoI stake will be reduced to nil, in case no support is provided," the company said. "The government has always maintained that it supports a 3 private player market. In case the telecom sector is reduced to a duopoly, this will not only be a bad outcome for competition and consumer choice, but will also make future spectrum auctions, a constant source of revenue for the government, a non-starter," it said. While appreciating the support of the Government by way of 2021 reform package and recent dues-to-equity conversion, Voda Idea said the AGR judgment "has caused grave damage to the business and financial health of the company, in addition to the unfair burden caused by the AGR liability itself, which has put the company in a situation, where it cannot survive without the AGR liability issue being addressed". "Hence, a timely resolution of AGR matter and acceptance of our request for liquidity support by spectrum moratorium and extension is critical," VIL is learnt to have said. It requested the government to mull AGR support. "...consider principal demand as per DOT (till FY19) of ₹17,213 crore as final and provide 100 per cent waiver on interest charge and on penalty," it said. "Considering the payments made in 2020 and conversion of AGR dues in 2023 - balance AGR dues as of Mar'25 will be ₹7,852 Crore (post above waivers)...Payment to be made over 20 years (including 4 years of moratorium, which has already passed). No further accrual of interest with 5 years of additional moratorium (till FY30) and subsequent payment in 11 equal instalments of ₹714 crore (between FY31 to FY41)," it proposed. It had also sought support on spectrum payment . "Extension of spectrum payment period by 1 year for spectrum acquired prior to 2021 on Spectrum instalments payment for five years that is between FY28 to FY32," it said.
