DDNEWS — Cyber Alert
20260808 163000 UTC
394 transcript segments
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Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record.

[00:00:12] social media? Do you open WhatsApp
[00:00:15] as soon as you pick up your mobile, scroll on Instagram,
[00:00:19] check Facebook feeds, check messages on Signal,
[00:00:23] which means the endless
[00:00:25] Facebook, and WhatsApp, series of reels and videos
[00:00:28] begins. Protests, violence,
[00:00:32] politics, entertainment, viral
[00:00:35] clips. You feel that you
[00:00:38] or a general merchandise store, are watching content of your choice,
[00:00:41] but what if the truth
[00:00:45] is completely different? What if you
[00:00:48] are told what will appear on your screen, what will go viral,
[00:00:52] on which issue your attention will go?
[00:00:56] This decision is probably not yours,
[00:00:59] (Investigating Officer) who is looking but someone else's.
[00:01:02] Is there an attempt to influence our thinking
[00:01:05] through our digital world? Today, I will reveal the truth
[00:01:09] behind this and also find out from the government
[00:01:12] how those people whose bank accounts are frozen, even though they are
[00:01:16] not at fault, and whose money these cyber thieves
[00:01:20] loot, will get relief.
[00:01:23] What is the algorithm of the time deciding?
[00:01:27] And I am not saying this, these platforms themselves are saying
[00:01:30] it, because when questions were raised on this algorithm,
[00:01:34] Meta, one of the world's largest social media companies, had
[00:01:38] account holder. to clarify before the Indian government. What mistake did they make that the company
[00:01:41] had to apologize, and why did its head, Mark
[00:01:45] Zuckerberg, also have to say sorry to the Indian government?
[00:01:48] We had told you in this program how Meta, by charging more money,
[00:01:52] was showing such advertisements on its platform
[00:01:56] that contained child sexual exploitation material.
[00:02:00] People are being defrauded by deepfake content, you are being looted by fake advertisements,
[00:02:03] because Meta is giving these looters an opportunity
[00:02:07] to reach you. But the matter does
[00:02:11] not end here. Meta CEO Mark
[00:02:14] Zuckerberg apologized to the Indian government on August 5th
[00:02:18] for child sexual exploitation material, deepfake content, and errors in the operating system.
[00:02:22] Responding to MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and IT),
[00:02:25] Meta admitted that a large
[00:02:29] sum of money was paid to spread child sexual exploitation
[00:02:32] material (CSAM) and deepfakes and to boost certain
[00:02:36] types of content. And when too much money
[00:02:39] is paid for something, it means something is not right.
[00:02:43] So why did Meta do this, and what was
[00:02:47] this special kind of content that was boosted?
[00:02:51] Boosting means to greatly increase the reach
[00:02:54] of content through manipulation. This can be done in many ways,
[00:02:58] such as paid promotion.
[00:03:10] In other words, the platform can decide which content
[00:03:14] reaches more people and which content remains
[00:03:17] within a limited scope. This is content
[00:03:20] amplification. Meta admitted that its system
[00:03:24] boosts the reach of some content. Meta has
[00:03:27] publicly acknowledged this for the first time,
[00:03:31] which is now raising new questions. There is a big difference
[00:03:35] and regarding which the Supreme between platforms that merely host content and platforms that actively choose
[00:03:38] and amplify content to more people. When a platform itself
[00:03:42] decides which content will be more visible in the feeds
[00:03:45] of millions of users, it is no longer just a medium,
[00:03:49] but is making decisions as an editor.
[00:03:53] This means that for years, this company has been claiming
[00:03:56] that it only acts as an intermediary,
[00:03:59] meaning a platform that only hosts
[00:04:03] user-generated content, and therefore
[00:04:06] it cannot be held legally responsible for what
[00:04:10] users post. But now Meta
[00:04:14] has admitted that not every post on social media
[00:04:18] platforms like Facebook and Instagram gets equal visibility.
[00:04:21] Algorithms decide which posts a user will see,
[00:04:25] in what order, and how many times.
[00:04:29] The government has clarified to Meta
[00:04:32] that since it decides what content whom receives
[00:04:36] and what its reach will be,
[00:04:39] joined by a special then it does not fall under the definition of an intermediary,
[00:04:42] and therefore cannot claim legal protection
[00:04:45] under the safe harbor provisions of the IT
[00:04:48] Act. In fact, safe harbor protection was created
[00:04:51] for entities that merely transmit information, and not
[00:04:55] for platforms that actively influence
[00:04:59] or control the flow of information. And as a result,
[00:05:02] Meta apologized to the government and expressed regret
[00:05:05] for its mistake. The IT Ministry has made it clear
[00:05:09] to all social media platforms, including Meta, that they must
[00:05:13] comply with Indian laws. Earlier, on August 3rd,
[00:05:16] a parliamentary committee had also asked Meta's CEO
[00:05:20] to apologize unconditionally within three days
[00:05:24] for temporarily removing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's post
[00:05:27] on Facebook. In fact, India is a very large
[00:05:31] market for companies like Meta. Millions
[00:05:34] of Indians use Instagram,
[00:05:37] not just for social interaction, but for news,
[00:05:41] political discussions, entertainment, and business
[00:05:44] communications. If their safety is not Meta's
[00:05:48] priority, then the government will have to take a strong stance.
[00:05:51] Meta's algorithms decide what millions of internet users
[00:05:55] in India will see and what not every day.
[00:05:58] We all believe that a post or content
[00:06:02] went viral because more people saw it willingly.
[00:06:06] But algorithmic amplification and
[00:06:10] paid boosting can be the reasons for this,
[00:06:13] and this can give impetus to the spread of a particular
[00:06:16] idea or narrative, which is not right, and elements
[00:06:20] that promote violence can misuse it.
[00:06:23] We will tell you how a big example of this
[00:06:39] of online requests for personal information. Always
[00:06:42] think before giving any information.
[00:06:46] No legitimate company will ever ask you for personal
[00:06:50] information on the phone or internet.
[00:06:53] So, when you receive such calls or emails,
[00:06:56] be smart and careful before giving your information.
[00:07:16] a digital conspiracy: that during the Jantar Mantar protest
[00:07:20] and violence on July 20, inflammatory content
[00:07:24] and rumors were spread in a planned manner
[00:07:28] using fake accounts and foreign bot networks.
[00:07:31] These were artificially boosted by the platform.
[00:07:35] This is an example of how emerging technologies
[00:07:39] increase the threat of misinformation and disinformation.
[00:07:42] In fact, there is a huge amount of information
[00:07:45] on social media platforms, so it becomes difficult for people
[00:07:49] to differentiate between right and wrong, truth and lies.
[00:07:52] Taking advantage of this, elements spreading disinformation
[00:07:56] send you false and misleading information. And as I said,
[00:08:00] the algorithms of social media platforms show users
[00:08:03] content that they are most likely to be interested
[00:08:07] in. That is why platforms constantly analyze
[00:08:11] your browsing, shopping history, location, and other data.
[00:08:14] And when you constantly see content with similar
[00:08:17] views, your preconceived notions become even stronger.
[00:08:21] You become distant from others' perspectives,
[00:08:24] and this is called the echo chamber
[00:08:28] effect. And in America, it was believed that similar online
[00:08:31] activities also fueled events like the Stop the Steal
[00:08:35] movement after the 2020 US presidential election and the January 6, 2021
[00:08:38] Capitol riot. And now, let's talk about another
[00:08:42] extremely important issue that is affecting many people,
[00:08:48] Court issued interim directives for the entire country on August 4th,
[00:08:51] and guidelines were also given for these. These are frozen bank
[00:08:55] accounts and how those who lost money due to fraud
[00:08:58] will get their money back. Whatever the situation,
[00:09:13] Cyber Alert. Be careful
[00:09:16] of online requests for personal information. Always
[00:09:20] think before giving any information. No legitimate
[00:09:24] company will ever ask you for personal
[00:09:27] information on the phone or internet. So, when you receive
[00:09:30] such calls or emails, be smart and careful
[00:09:33] before giving
[00:09:35] your information.
[00:09:52] guest, because a complaint that we constantly
[00:09:55] receive from all of you is that we lost our money
[00:09:59] in fraud, and how much
[00:10:02] money is held where, and how will I get it back?
[00:10:05] We don't get any information about this. So, regarding
[00:10:09] this entire process, because when the Supreme Court also
[00:10:13] issued an advisory, they also mentioned that people should be informed
[00:10:17] about it. So, today we are joined by Akhilesh
[00:10:21] Gaur ji, who is the Deputy Director at i4C, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination
[00:10:25] Center. Welcome, Akhilesh ji. Thank you. Akhilesh ji, what
[00:10:29] we usually see is that the Indian government emphasizes
[00:10:32] that if you have been defrauded, you must complain on 1930
[00:10:36] or on the portal. The arrests being made
[00:10:40] to catch these scammers are also before us, and successes are also being achieved.
[00:10:44] But those people whose money is going, they should also get relief,
[00:10:48] they should also get their money back, they should also get information,
[00:10:51] the system should cooperate with them. Is this also a priority for the government?
[00:10:55] Yes, you are absolutely right, it is absolutely a priority for the government
[00:10:58] that all frauds should be reported
[00:11:02] as soon as possible on 1930, which is the National Cybercrime
[00:11:05] Helpline, or on cybercrime.gov.in, which
[00:11:09] is the NCRP portal. Fraud reporting should be done as soon as possible
[00:11:13] so that prompt action can be taken, and not just that the money
[00:11:16] is saved, but also that the remaining money is returned to the people
[00:11:20] very easily. The Ministry of Home Affairs
[00:11:23] created an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) on January
[00:11:27] 2, 2026, in which two mechanisms
[00:11:31] are defined: one is the money restoration mechanism, and the other
[00:11:34] is the grievance redressal mechanism. All this sounds very good,
[00:11:38] that you get your money back easily, as stated in the SOP,
[00:11:42] but Akhilesh ji, in reality, it has been observed
[00:11:45] that this is not happening in practice. Even the Supreme Court said
[00:11:49] on August 4th that the SOPs
[00:11:52] should be disseminated throughout the country, to the people.
[00:12:25] only claimant, then you will get your money immediately,
[00:12:28] but who will tell me? How will I know, and when will I know? You will receive
[00:12:32] an SMS, with the help of which you will know that you can apply
[00:12:36] on the money restoration portal. Now, there is an aspect
[00:12:40] to this that needs to be understood: in the frauds that are happening
[00:12:44] nowadays, it also happens that many people are defrauded in one account.
[00:12:47] So, the bank has to perform an exercise to first check
[00:12:51] whose money it is, whose victim's money is saved, whose has been withdrawn.
[00:12:55] This is called attribution. The bank has been given a period of about
[00:12:59] 30 days. Within 30 days, they will finalize it. Within 30 days, they will calculate
[00:13:03] all the complaints they receive, and they will reach a conclusion.
[00:13:06] And they will upload an amount on the portal, which is called the restorable
[00:13:10] amount, meaning refundable. You said they will upload it on the portal.
[00:13:14] As a victim, will I have the right to see that portal? Where can I go
[00:13:18] and see? As soon as the bank calculates and uploads
[00:13:21] that money, the victim will receive a message that under
[00:13:25] this acknowledgment number, this much money has been decided
[00:13:29] by the bank. Now go to the money restoration module
[00:13:33] and apply for the refund. So, as you said, the bank has to respond
[00:13:36] within 30 days, which means that after
[00:13:40] 30 days, the victim can receive this message
[00:13:43] that their money is held somewhere in the account and they can get it.
[00:13:47] Where there are multiple claimants, exactly what I was asking. So, if there are no
[00:13:51] multiple claimants, and I am the only one with a claim, and my money is in that account,
[00:13:55] then how soon do I receive an SMS? Because many people
[00:13:59] keep waiting, because sometimes it also happens
[00:14:02] that the money could not be frozen, so it could not be kept,
[00:14:06] meaning all your money is gone. So, when do these cases receive
[00:14:10] this message? In those cases where all the money is gone,
[00:14:13] they won't see anything when they apply on this portal, because this portal
[00:14:16] is only for cases where a hold is placed.
[00:14:20] You are talking about the money restoration portal or module,
[00:14:23] and if you apply, you have to apply on the portal, and of course, you will be able to
[00:14:27] track it later. So, an acknowledgment ID will be generated
[00:14:31] in the form of a request, and you can track it with that acknowledgment
[00:14:35] ID. The moment you apply, that case will immediately go to the police's
[00:14:38] inbox. Now, the police will examine your case to see how much money
[00:14:42] is left, and if the bank has calculated it correctly or not. Secondly, if
[00:14:46] they come to the conclusion that this money belongs to you,
[00:14:49] for which the bank has calculated and put it in, then if the case
[00:14:53] is for less than 5,000, they can generate an electronic
[00:14:56] notice, take an indemnity bond from the victim, and submit
[00:15:00] it. Suppose the amount remaining is more than 5,000.
[00:15:03] If there is 76,000 in one account in one bank, then an FIR
[00:15:07] will also be needed there. So, the police officer will submit it with the FIR.
[00:15:10] All this work will be done at the police level itself. After submitting
[00:15:13] it, then the entire case will go to the bank.
[00:15:17] Then the bank, whichever bank has a share in it,
[00:15:20] whoever has to return it, that bank will return their amount
[00:15:24] that they had already confirmed. And why will this action be fast?
[00:15:28] Because until now, what used to happen was that some money was left
[00:15:32] in one account. Well, that same account had defrauded
[00:15:35] many people. Many people's court orders have come for that money.
[00:15:39] Now the bank had this dilemma: to whom should they give it? So they used to give
[00:15:42] it to whoever's court order came first. But now the SOP is very clear
[00:15:46] on this. The transactions that are stopped, the money that is left of the victim,
[00:15:50] will be given to those victims only. If 10 people were defrauded
[00:15:54] in one account, and 10 lakhs came into it, and 5 lakh rupees were also withdrawn,
[00:15:57] then 5 lakhs are left. Now it is difficult for the bank to see
[00:16:01] whose 5 lakhs were withdrawn, whether it was the earlier ones or the later ones.
[00:16:05] So, there, the bank applies a pro-rata principle, equitable distribution,
[00:16:09] equally, according to the proportion of money that came in for each person,
[00:16:12] that much money will be distributed, and that much restorable amount
[00:16:16] will be shown in their share. Whoever suffered a greater loss
[00:16:20] will be given a higher percentage, and whoever suffered less will be given
[00:16:23] in the same percentage. So, after completing this entire action,
[00:16:27] those victims will receive a message. As you said, the role of the police station
[00:16:31] becomes important in between. Does the police station mean the IO
[00:16:37] into that case and the case goes to him? Because in many cases,
[00:16:40] I asked this question because in many cases, it is said, for example,
[00:16:44] where is the money, how much is held, is any of my money saved
[00:16:48] or not? Whom should I ask? It is said that you should stay
[00:16:52] in touch with your IO. How correct is this? Absolutely correct.
[00:16:55] The investigating officer takes action on your case.
[00:16:59] First, it's about saving the money. They coordinate with all banks
[00:17:03] to stop your money. However, now we have integrated many banks
[00:17:06] through API integration on the portal. But still, the investigating
[00:17:09] officer handles all investigations, followed by the examination
[00:17:12] of the concerned suspect
[00:17:16] It is important for the victim to stay in touch with the IO,
[00:17:20] because many times it happens that victims cannot apply themselves,
[00:17:24] so they get help at the police station. From the complaint registration,
[00:17:27] the IO can help them there. Any cyber police station
[00:17:31] can help, and secondly, the police station where their complaint
[00:17:34] has gone will examine their case. If the victim has any
[00:17:38] court order, assuming they do, they can upload it.
[00:17:42] If not, the IO can upload it on their behalf. Right?
[00:17:46] If a large amount has been held, then in that case, the IO will do
[00:17:49] all the examinations, and the IO will also handle things related to the FIR.
[00:17:53] But can I also find out by going to the bank? After all, my money
[00:17:57] is gone from my account. Where did it go, how much? Does the bank
[00:18:01] also stay in the loop? Can they provide information? Absolutely. Look, the victim's
[00:18:04] own bank will be able to tell where their money went.
[00:18:08] But understand that here there is layering
[00:18:11] of money, where money first goes from the victim's bank to a set of banks,
[00:18:15] and then from there to further accounts. This is how money circulates.
[00:18:19] But ultimately, the money will be spent somewhere.
[00:18:22] So, when the money was spent, it went into the account
[00:18:26] of some genuine merchant or individual. Now, when the money trail
[00:18:30] was followed and the IO observed it, the IO took action.
[00:18:34] So, either the money gets held in those genuine accounts,
[00:18:37] like a school, a hospital, or a general merchandise
[00:18:41] store, or their account gets frozen. Now, understand
[00:18:45] a small thing. Suppose a particular merchant,
[00:18:49] a merchandise store, is in Delhi NCR,
[00:18:52] and a complaint came from Kerala. Action was taken
[00:18:56] by a police officer from Kerala. Now, their
[00:19:00] account in Delhi was frozen. So, how do these people connect
[00:19:03] with each other? Where can the merchant in Delhi submit their
[00:19:07] application? For this, we have designed a proper system
[00:19:11] called the Grievance Redressal Portal,
[00:19:14] in which banks and concerned police officers are on board
[00:19:18] up to the police station level. And any aggrieved
[00:19:22] person whose account has been acted upon
[00:19:25] will go to their bank branch and submit an application
[00:19:29] that their account has been frozen, or money
[00:19:33] has been held in it, or it has been digitally suspended,
[00:19:36] and action should be taken on it. So, the bank
[00:19:40] has been given a time of seven days to take action,
[00:19:44] during which the bank will have to perform enhanced due diligence.
[00:19:47] Because it is possible that some fraudster may also
[00:19:51] come and apply tomorrow that their account has been frozen,
[00:19:54] to put a check on that. Because the bank knows
[00:19:58] which police officer took action. So, the mapping
[00:20:02] has been done in the portal in such a way that they will select
[00:20:06] that police officer or that police station, and the grievance
[00:20:09] will automatically be routed from the bank branch
[00:20:13] (i.e., Delhi in this case) to Kerala. After examining
[00:20:17] it, law enforcement agencies can finally
[00:20:20] come to a conclusion whether this is a genuine
[00:20:24] freezing or if it is unnecessary and should be unfrozen.
[00:20:27] So, after examining, they can take due action.
[00:20:31] There have been many cases like this, in my own contact,
[00:20:34] there was a case where a school teacher said
[00:20:50] within, during police action, it is possible that
[00:20:54] some accounts may get frozen or
[00:20:57] money may be held in accounts. So, look, when fraudsters
[00:21:00] move money, the money is first put from
[00:21:04] the victim's account into a suspect account, then into other accounts.
[00:21:08] That's how the money circulates. But ultimately, the money will be spent
[00:21:12] somewhere. So, when the money was spent, it goes into the account
[00:21:16] of some genuine merchant or individual. Now, when the IO followed
[00:21:20] the money trail and observed it, the IO took action. So, either
[00:21:23] money gets held in those genuine accounts, like a school, a hospital,
[00:21:28] or their account gets frozen. Now, understand a small
[00:21:32] thing. Suppose a particular merchant, a merchandise store,
[00:21:36] is in Delhi NCR, and a complaint came from Kerala,
[00:21:40] and action was taken by a police officer from Kerala. Now,
[00:21:43] their account in Delhi was frozen. So, how do these people connect
[00:21:47] with each other? Where can the merchant in Delhi submit their application?
[00:21:50] For this, we have designed a proper system called the Grievance
[00:21:54] Redressal Portal, in which banks and concerned
[00:21:58] police officers are on board up to the police station
[00:22:01] level. And any aggrieved person whose account has been acted
[00:22:05] upon will go to their bank branch and submit an application
[00:22:08] that their account has been frozen, or money has been held in it,
[00:22:12] or it has been digitally suspended, and action should be taken
[00:22:16] on it. So, the bank has been given a time of seven days to take action.
[00:22:20] The bank will have to perform enhanced due diligence, because
[00:22:23] it is possible that some fraudster may also come and apply tomorrow
[00:22:27] that their account has been frozen, to put a check on that.
[00:22:31] Because the bank knows which police officer took action,
[00:22:34] the mapping has been done in the portal in such a way that they will select
[00:22:38] that police officer or that police station, and the grievance
[00:22:41] will automatically be routed from the bank branch (i.e., Delhi
[00:22:44] in this case) to Kerala. After examining it,
[00:22:48] law enforcement agencies can finally come to a conclusion
[00:22:52] whether this is a genuine freezing or if it is unnecessary
[00:22:56] and should be unfrozen. There have been many cases
[00:22:59] like this, in my own contact, there was a case where a school
[00:23:03] teacher said that her account was frozen, and she was told
[00:23:07] that 420 rupees of cyber fraud had come into her account.
[00:23:11] At that time, she had 5500 rupees in her account. They froze
[00:23:14] her entire account. If you suspect that 420 rupees
[00:23:18] are from fraud, then freeze 420, but I need the rest
[00:23:22] for my expenses, right? How can such
[00:23:25] complaints be resolved? Look, banks also
[00:23:29] take their own actions. They have their own rule engines,
[00:23:33] their own fraud risk management systems, and sometimes
[00:23:36] those systems can also trigger accounts that might be genuine.
[00:23:40] So, this type of situation arises. Sometimes it has also
[00:23:44] been seen that very genuine people had this happen to them
[00:23:47] that they played a game or completed a task manipulated
[00:23:51] by fraudsters. So, when they complete a task,
[00:23:55] they give some initial money, and then some money also comes back
[00:23:59] to them. So, the money that came back comes from a crime
[00:24:02] or a criminal account, a mule account. So, in that mule account,
[00:24:06] someone must have complained earlier. So, when that money
[00:24:09] trail runs, these types of accounts get caught.
[00:24:13] So, in this way, what you are telling is not a case, but what is the solution
[00:24:16] for them? If there are such victims, where should they go?
[00:24:20] The Grievance Redressal Module is the solution for them.
[00:24:24] They should go to their bank branch. If their bank branch offers
[00:24:28] banking, suppose it's a payment bank,
[00:24:31] then the payment bank has its own channels, through
[00:24:35] customer care or through email. So, they can give their
[00:24:39] complaint to them. After that, it's the same process.
[00:24:43] The bank will do an EDD, then raise the grievance,
[00:24:46] and then it will be routed to the concerned police
[00:24:50] officer. So, here, the bank branch has to take action
[00:24:53] in seven days. After that, when it goes to the LEA
[00:24:57] (Law Enforcement Agency), the investigating officer
[00:25:01] is the first step. So, the IO has to act
[00:25:04] more and more people know that this system has started, their bank
[00:25:08] branches know this, so we are running a rigorous campaign
[00:25:12] to inform people, we have brought this information through cyber alert
[00:25:16] so that everyone can understand how you can get your money back,
[00:25:20] there is a system, which should keep working and
[00:25:24] it should work on time, Akhilesh ji, this is what is expected, thank you so much, you have
[00:25:27] given very useful information and I am sure people will definitely benefit from it, thank you
[00:25:41] about very important issues, especially how you can get your money
[00:25:45] back if you are cheated, but do not keep this information to yourself,
[00:25:49] share it with others so that more and more people