Summary of this article
Third edition focuses on investment and impersonation scams
Awareness drive distributed on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram
Earlier editions centred on awareness and outreach
Meta has launched its third iteration of 'Scam Se Bacho' user awareness campaign in India to tackle the increase in online scams and cyber fraud. The latest edition gives a particular focus to commonly reported scams such as fake investment offers, impersonation fraud and misleading job-related messages that continue to stay prominent in cybercrime complaints.
This phase of the campaign is being done in collaboration with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The disbursal of the campaign content is being undertaken across Meta platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, with short videos and digital creatives.
Actor Neena Gupta and several other content creators are featured in the campaign message, who are seen discussing important factors, such as identifying the indicators of a scam, not being pressured into making a decision and using in-app tools to report the scam.
Meta has stated that the third edition of the campaign is in line with the change in the nature of the scams, where the scams are increasingly being formulated in the form of regular communication. The campaign puts focus on the signs of potential scams, which include unsolicited financial advice, requests for personal and banking details, and guaranteed returns.
Launch Of The First Edition
The 'Scam Se Bacho' campaign was launched as a national user awareness campaign in October 2024, in association with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre.
The launch event was graced by a keynote address by Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He described the initiative as part of a whole-of-government response to improving digital safety awareness and responding to the rise in cases of online fraud.
At the time, government authorities cited the magnitude of the digital adoption in the country with more than 900 million internet users and the widespread use of digital payment systems. Alongside this growth, authorities said there was an increase in cybercrime, with 1.1 million cases recorded in 2023.
Cyber Crime And Digital Adoption
During the first edition of the campaign, officials emphasised how greater reliance on digital platforms for payments, communication and services had led to a greater exposure of users to cyber risks. Authorities had observed that in the cases of fraud, there was social engineering used, including impersonation, false urgency and false financial claims.
Current Edition Focuses On Financial Scams
The third edition focuses on financial and investment-related scams, as they are what the regulators and law enforcement agencies have been seeing an increase in. The campaign plans to emphasise verification, caution around unsolicited offers, and the use of platform-based reporting mechanisms as online fraud continues to be a concern with the rise in digital participation.
