The Central Bank of India intends to allow banks in the country to temporarily block accounts that are being used for fraudulent schemes by cybercriminals. As Reuters reports, citing sources, the regulator is considering such measures due to the rise in online crime in the country.
The new rules will allow Indian banks to speed up the blocking of accounts of cybercriminals, which currently requires a lengthy procedure, often taking several days. According to him, customers of banks affected by ransomware should first register their complaint with the police and only with their permission can banks freeze the accounts of cybercriminals. At the same time, a third of fraud victims do not turn to law enforcement for help, which prevents banks from freezing suspicious accounts.
According to Reuters sources, over the past three months, Indian authorities have blocked 250,000 accounts used by criminals to obtain funds from the accounts of defrauded bank customers. Despite these measures, tens of thousands of Indian citizens continue to receive phone calls every day from fraudsters seeking access to their bank accounts and e-wallets.
Indian bank depositor losses to fraudsters from 2021 to almost $1.26 billion every day cybercriminals open 4 thousand accounts to which funds of defrauded customers are transferred.