The Union Home Ministry’s cyber crime unit issued an advisory on Sunday alerting people to beware of suspicious e-notices that they receive from government offices on their email. Urging people to practice caution, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) stated in a public advertisement that everyone should always check the Internet to authenticate the identity of the official named in the e-notices and call the mentioned department. This comes as several cases of “fake emails” being sent in the garb of the government’s e-notices are popping up. In the advertisement, the cyber crime unit warned that such e-notices could be a con that can expose people to becoming “victims of cyber fraud”. Suggesting countermeasures to be considered before responding to such e-mails, I4C stated, “Check if the email has originated from an authentic government website that ends with “gov.in”; check the internet for information regarding officials named in the email; and call the mentioned department to verify the email received.” Earlier this month, the Union Finance Ministry issued a cautionary advisory regarding fraudulent emails. These emails, as per the advisory, falsely bear the names, signatures, stamps, and logos of prominent entities such as the Delhi Police Cyber Crime and Economic Offence, the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), the Intelligence Bureau, and the Cyber Cell of Delhi. “The recipient of any such email should be aware of this fraudulent attempt. It is informed to the public that any such e-mails with the attachment should not be responded to, and such cases may be reported to the nearest police station or cyber police station,” it said. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), an organisation under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) tasked with addressing cyber crimes comprehensively, issued a similar advisory in August last year. This advisory warned users about counterfeit emails impersonating its CEO, with subject titles such as “urgent notification” and “court notification.”
