Now Reading: Government asks Google to remove fake bank sites
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Government asks Google to remove fake bank sites
The government has asked Google to take down several Firebase accounts impersonating websites and mobile apps of major banks including SBI, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. The notices were sent by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the ministry of home affairs, which said the fake pages used reward-point redemption offers and credit-limit upgrade scams to steal card details and OTPs.
Seven of the 57 websites and databases targeted were phishing pages mimicking banks, while others collected stolen data from victims' phones. A Google spokesperson said the company has strict policies against phishing and works with law enforcement. India has lost nearly Rs 52,000 crore to cyber fraud over the past five years, with losses of Rs 22,500 crore in 2025 alone and 2.8 million complaints filed.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The I4C notice to Google is the latest escalation in a coordinated effort to shut down the infrastructure behind bank phishing scams, which have surged with UPI and digital payment adoption. Firebase's low-code setup makes it easy for fraudsters to clone legitimate apps quickly. The RBI has already mandated a '.bank.in' domain to help customers verify genuine bank sites, but adoption is slow. The next signal to watch is whether Google removes the accounts within the standard 24-hour takedown window and whether the I4C follows up with criminal complaints against the operators.
Source: rediff.com
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