India disconnects 20M phone numbers in 'cyberslave' crackdown
Growing reports of Indian citizens becoming enslaved in South East Asia to commit cybercrime and cryptocurrency fraud has forced the government to tighten security checks for SIM cards and disconnect over 20 million mobile connections. More than 29,000 Indians are believed to be trapped in Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, where they are forced to scam their fellow citizens. Lured under the guise of a well-paying job, their money and passports are confiscated on arrival. These cyberslaves are given phones that will mask their location and present as an Indian mobile number. They’re told to call Indians and lure them into cryptocurrency scams, identity theft, pig butchering scams, and more . They’re threatened and beaten if they don’t comply. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has reportedly received around 100,000 cybercrime complaints since January 2023. Of those cases, a whopping 45% originated in South East Asia. The Union Ministry of Tele...