Indian e-commerce users target of new ‘year-end carnival’ online scam

Agencies
December 29, 2020

New Delhi, Dec 29: As New Year festivities begin, cybercriminals based in China also have their own plans. They are targeting Indian e-commerce users with a new "year-end carnival, Get free Christmas gifts" scam, an investigation has revealed.

The scam is designed to make e-commerce users believe that Flipkart is offering an year-end carnival, although there is no such information this year on the e-commerce player's official website regarding such a carnival, New Delhi-based CyberPeace Foundation which conducted the investigation said on Monday.

The cybercriminals want to dupe e-commerce users into thinking that they can win a brand new OPPO F17 Pro smartphone.

The owner of the sites that are being shared via the social media platform, is not Flipkart Internet Private Limited.

It seems that the sites are registered in China, as per the investigation.

While the new scam bears many similarities to the Spin the Lucky Wheel Scam reported earlier, the new scam aims to also inject malware into the smartphones of users by asking people to install a third-party malicious app.

"There is a need for International cyber cooperation between countries to bust the criminal networks running the fraud campaigns affecting individuals and organisations to make the cyberspace resilient and peaceful," Vineet Kumar, President and Founder, CyberPeace Foundation, said in a statement.

"With the growing number of attacks and disruption in the cyberspace, countries are struggling with attributing attacks and fixing accountability which stands to be one of the major causes of concerns today."

The scam is new and is in the early stages of its lifecycle. There is a probability that this scam could reach a mass number of Indians by December 31 and could last well until the first week of January, according to CyberPeace Foundation.

Unlike Spin the wheel scam, the format of selecting winners is different this time.

On the landing page, a lucky draw section can be seen, on clicking the start button it shows "It's a pity that you didn't get the reward, you have 2 more chances" with an alert.

Also at the bottom of this page, a section comes up which seems to be a Facebook comment section where many users have commented about how much the offer is beneficial. All these comments and accounts are fake as per the investigation.

This scam is a much more malicious version of the earlier e-commerce scams as it aims to keep users engaged with fake popup alerts.

Every time a user clicks on the WhatsApp button on the scam website to share the link ahead with friends and family via Whatsapp a new tab opens on browser with a link.

It means if the user clicks on the link from a mobile device it will open the installed WhatsApp application on the phone.

Earlier reports showed that China-based hacking groups also targeted online shoppers during the record-breaking Flipkart festive season sales.

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News Network
November 21,2025

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An Indian Air Force (IAF) Tejas fighter jet crashed on Friday, November 21, afternoon during its aerial demonstration at the Dubai Air Show, plunging to the ground at around 2:10 pm local time while performing a manoeuvre before thousands of spectators.

The IAF confirmed the incident, stating that a Tejas aircraft participating in the show had crashed and that further details were being gathered. An Air Force spokesperson said more information would be shared after initial assessments.

The crash sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky near the airport, causing panic among visitors, including families and children who had gathered to watch the display. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether the pilot managed to eject before the aircraft went down. Emergency response teams rushed to the scene, and officials have not released information on casualties or damage so far.

The Tejas is a 4.5-generation, multi-role fighter aircraft developed indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Designed for versatility, it is capable of offensive air support, close combat, ground attack missions and maritime operations. The aircraft family includes single-seat fighters and twin-seat trainers for both the Air Force and Navy.

HAL describes the latest version, the LCA Mk1A, as the most advanced in the series, featuring an AESA radar, an upgraded electronic warfare suite with radar-warning and self-protection jamming, smart multifunction displays, a digital map generator, a combined interrogator–transponder system and a modern radio altimeter. These enhancements significantly improve the aircraft’s combat capability and survivability.

Further updates from IAF and UAE authorities are awaited.

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Agencies
November 22,2025

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New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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News Network
November 21,2025

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Udupi: The Malpe Police have arrested two men from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly sharing classified information related to Indian Navy vessels with individuals in Pakistan, posing a serious threat to national security.

According to a complaint filed by the CEO of Udupi Cochin Shipyard, Malpe—an institution under the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways—the prime accused, Rohit (29), was working as an insulator through subcontractor M/S Shushma Marine Pvt Ltd. He had earlier served at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi, Kerala, where naval ships are under construction.

Udupi SP Hariram Shankar said the accused had unlawfully shared, via WhatsApp, confidential identification numbers of Navy-related ships and other classified details while working in Kerala, allegedly for illegal gains.

After joining the Malpe shipyard unit, Rohit reportedly continued collecting sensitive information through a friend in Kochi and circulated it to unauthorised individuals, violating national security protocols and potentially endangering India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity.

Based on the complaint, Malpe Police registered a case under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

A police team led by Karkala Subdivision Assistant Superintendent of Police Harsha Priyamvada—along with PSI Anil Kumar D, ASI Harish, and PC Ravi Jadhav—conducted the investigation and arrested the two accused, identified as Rohit (29) and Santri (37), both residents of Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh.

The duo was produced before the court, which remanded them in judicial custody till December 3. Further investigation is in progress.

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