Sometimes it’s as annoying as receiving a product you haven’t ordered.

At other times, it can be as frightening as receiving calls from police officers claiming you need to pay a fine.

Or a bride in desperate need of money.

The bottom line is that cybercriminals are getting more creative, more real.

Sujith G, founder of Chennai-based advertising agency Point S, realised something was wrong when he began receiving messages from friends and family asking him if everything was okay.“I was at work when messages from family and friends began flooding in asking me how much money I needed.

I was confused until I found out they had all received a request from my social media account asking for money.

I alerted friends and told them to report the account.

Luckily, no one lost money, but the fact that it is difficult to differentiate real from fake is getting scary,” says Sujith.While neither Sujith nor his friends lost money, IT professional Pooja T lost 1,500 she had spent on clothes.

“I didn’t receive what was shown on the website,” says Pooja.

“I tried reaching the store to return the product, but I couldn’t find the site anywhere; it had been taken down.

There was no contact number listed and so I couldn’t reach out to them.” Sanjay Kumar, assistant director general of police at the cybercrime wing in Chennai, says online frauds have been happening for ages now and only the modus operandi has changed.

“In the recent week, we’ve seen an increase in the number of complaints against courier fraud, where people receive a call from scammers posing as police saying they have illegal items in their parcel.

A few days ago, a woman lost 1.5 crore to this fraud.

People need to be careful and realise they have nothing to be afraid of and complain at their local police station or online.” Another officer at the cybercrime wing says scammers have moved past ATM machines and credit card PINs to phishing links, extracting money online by offering quick money for virtual tasks, posting fake products, posing as a potential marriage alliance on matrimonial sites and posing as custom officials.

“A scam is a little easier to identify when you see the language used.

It is usually in bad grammar.

But with artificial intelligence, it is getting easier to do tasks seamlessly.

It’s only a matter of time for scammers to begin using AI to imitate a person’s texting tone to make it seem more authentic,” says Sujith.

Cybercrime investigator Dhanya Menon says in recent times, she has seen an increase in the use of AI in cybercrime.

“I have investigated cases where people’s faces have been deepfaked with their voice added using AI.

One of our clients, who is an influencer, had a hacker post a deepfaked video of her talking about something controversial.

Often, clients receive phone calls from an unknown number claiming to be a relative and mimicing their voice using AI and asking for money.” Because there is no way to screen the authenticity of crimes when AI is involved, Dhanya says people need to protect themselves by scrutinising what they put out online.

“Often, we post pictures and videos not realising it could potentially help scammers use AI to replicate voices and faces.

It is best to have a private account and only follow the people you know.”TRICK OR CHEAT?While scrolling through Instagram Shaheen J, a programme coordinator, saw an advertisement for a skort she wanted at a discounted price.

She swiped on the embedded link to the online store and ordered it.

After making the payment she received a payment confirmation and invoice in her email.

“Five days later, I received a jar of honey!” After repeated attempts to contact the online clothes store, she realised she had been scammed.

“Now, I make sure to check the website and reviews before ordering anything.”STAY REALLY SAFE VIRTUALLYUse two-factor authentication apps such as Google Authenticator or Authy over SMSbased 2FA for increased security.

These apps are less vulnerable to interceptionRegularly update your OS, web browsers, and antivirus or anti-malware software.

They patch security vulnerabilities.Legitimate websites utilise HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) to encrypt data.

Avoid entering sensitive information on sites that lack HTTPS encryption.Do not allow unnecessary access to your personal information.

Only grant permission to applications you trustRefrain from accessing sensitive information, such as online banking or shopping, through public wifi networks(Aarushi Koolwal, a cyber security consultant at CloudSEK SVigil)ON THE PROWLCops, private investigators say these are the cybercrimes they are dealing withWILL YOU MONEY ME? | Scammers pose as potential brides or grooms on matrimonial sites and build relationships with people.

After a few months, they extort money and then later block the victimsDOESN’T FIT THE BILL | In this phishing link scam, people receive a text message stating their electricity will be cut off due to lack of bill payment.

A link is attached to pay the amount.

When a user clicks the link, the hackers hack into their bank accounts and wipe them clean.PACKAGE DEAL | People receive calls from customs officials or the police stating they have found illegal substances in a parcel under their name, and address.

The scammers then ask them to pay a fine amount