Getting e-notice from govt office? MHA cyber wing says check Internet, call department

On receiving a suspicious e-notice from a government office on the email, people should check the Internet to authenticate the name of the official named in it and call the mentioned department, the Union home ministry's cyber crime unit said on Sunday. Users should be aware of "fake emails" sent in the garb of a government e-notice, said the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) in a public advertisement.

This could be a con that can make people "a victim of cyber fraud", the ad cautioned. The I4C suggested counter-measures before clicking or responding to such emails: 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.

Early this month, the Union finance ministry had issued a public advisory alerting email users about fraudulent e-mails bearing names, signatures, stamps and logos of Delhi Police Cyber Crime and Economic Offence, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB), the Intelligence Bureau and Cyber Cell of Delhi.

A letter attached to these emails, as per the advisory issued on July 4, made allegations of child pornography, pedophilia, cyber pornography, sexually explicit exhibit etc. against the receivers of the said e-mails.

The fraudsters, it said, use different e-mail addresses for sending such fake e-mails with attachments. "Receiver of any such email should be aware about this fraudulent attempt. It is informed to the general 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/cyber police station," it said.

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), an organisation under the ministry of home affairs (MHA) to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive manner, had issued a similar advisory in August last year cautioning users against such counterfeit emails impersonating the name of its CEO bearing subject titles like 'urgent notification' and 'court notification'.

"These misleading emails are targeted to various government offices, individuals and falsely accuse them of cyber crimes, urging them to respond," the I4C said. The logos of I4C, IB and Delhi Police used in these emails are "intentionally fake, deceptive and created with malicious motives," it said.

Several officers in the national capital's Central Secretariat received such suspicious emails last week which were falsely stated to have been issued by a person working at "MEA Messaging Team NIC High Commission of India."

The MHA and I4C ad issued on Sunday said such suspicious emails and other types of cyber frauds should be reported immediately to www.cybercrime.gov.in or call the cyber crime helpline no 1930.