Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos- A Hub of Organised Financial Crimes

Context

As per the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), nearly half of financial frauds targeting Indians are originating from the three south-east Asian countries of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

Southeast Asian Financial Crimes Targeting India

• Chinese Connection: Many web applications used to commit the frauds are written in Chinese language, hence showing the Chinese connection.
• Formation of a Committee: Recently, a high-level inter-ministerial committee headed by the Special Secretary (Internal Security) has been constituted aimed at mitigating cybercrime originating from south-east Asia targeting India.
• Inclusion under Organised Crime: The newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) would come into effect from July 1 and would put such crimes in the “organized crime” category.

Rising Financial Crimes and Southeast Asian Involvement

• Concerning Statistics: In the first four months of the year, Indians had lost over ₹1,776 crore in 89,054 cases of financial crimes such as digital arrest, stock market scam, investment scam and romance or dating scam and there had been an increase in organized crime from south-east Asia.
• Hotspots: Out of the total complaints on the national cyber crime portal, 85% complaints pertain to financial crimes, out of which 48% originate from south-east Asia. 
  • The financial crime hotspots in Jharkhand, Haryana, Rajasthan and West Bengal were still active and are expanding. 

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