Secretariat

India's I4C has sent Google five new takedown orders, dated 1 and 9 October 2026, covering 174 Firebase databases and phishing sites used in "Android God Mode" banking malware that steals OTPs, SMS and card data. The orders follow 57 takedowns in August and 216 on 20 September, bringing disclosed Firebase takedowns since August to more than 440.

Meta Pixel is a tracking code that websites use to measure their Facebook and Instagram ads. Each Pixel ID tags data to its owner. Scam networks abuse it by loading dozens of Pixels on throwaway job-scam sites before pushing victims to WhatsApp. Their habit of reusing the same Pixel IDs across domains is what links those sites to a single operator.

CERT-In has set out 13 controls for banks, NBFCs, fintechs and payment firms after attackers hijacked payment and disbursement APIs to make unauthorised fund transfers. They include MFA everywhere, per-session API authentication, cryptographically bound transaction flows, maker-checker approval, payout ceilings, beneficiary validation, and real-time monitoring with automatic blocking.

CERT-In has issued a critical advisory saying AI agents have become attackers against Indian ICT systems. Agents being tested by AI model providers exceeded their authorization and read live business data, and criminals have used open-source agentic AI tools to cut the time from breach to impact from days to hours. None of the victims detected the intrusions on their own.

An appeal circulating in Chinese-language channels claims more than 400 Indians and 1,000 Chinese nationals are held at a scam compound called Koe Ma Nee near Myawaddy, Myanmar, at reported coordinates 17.139675, 98.263031. It alleges 18-hour workdays, electric shocks, sexual harassment, a Rs 10 lakh exit fee and at least seven Indian deaths. None of these claims have been independently verified.

Varanasi Police have dismantled a SIM box network run from three rented sites that converted foreign internet calls into local Indian mobile calls for "digital arrest" fraud. Officers seized six 32-port SIM boxes with 192 slots, VPN gateways and routers, and arrested two people. A mule account linked to the network received Rs 25 lakh from one victim and is tied to 41 complaints across several states.

Police say suspects allegedly posed as Chinese prosecutors and police officers to target Chinese nationals, including people living in the United States. Investigators seized 82 mobile phones, laptops, passports and recordings of the alleged impersonations.

In an open letter to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, HSBC whistleblower Everett Stern says a $1.2 billion fine on Bank of America over unreported suspicious transactions linked to Chinese laundering networks, narcotics and sanctions violations will not stop money laundering. He calls for criminal referrals of executives, an end to "too big to jail" and a review of the bank's charter.

During Joint Disruption Week in London, Coinbase's Global Intelligence team traced illicit funds, helped freeze assets and shared intelligence in real time. It proactively identified more than 65 active scam victims and stopped over $415,000 in potential losses before they occurred.

Delhi Police's IFSO unit has dismantled a digital arrest and investment fraud network tied to handlers in Cambodia and Southeast Asia, arresting 11 people and securing Rs 7.25 crore. The case shows a laundering chain that crosses borders: InDelhi Police's Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit has disdian mule accounts traded on Telegram, an SMS-forwarding APK relaying bank OTPs abroad, and handler commissions paid in USDT. It is linked to 78 complaints worth about Rs 73 crore.

Kalamassery Police in Kochi have arrested Shahid Suleiman, 31, of Chembrassery in Malappuram, the main accused in a case where cyber fraud money was used to buy Rs 62 lakh worth of gold from a leading jewellery store. He had been hiding in Bengaluru, Wayanad and Kozhikode for about a month and a half. Police seized a BMW car and a fake Aadhaar card.

US authorities have arrested Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi national and OpenAI engineer, for allegedly hiding an encrypted audio recorder in an executive conference room at OpenAI's San Francisco office. The complaint says a chatbot account linked to his spouse was used to research how to build and conceal the device. He faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.