India second most targeted country for cyberscams globally, finds Meta report

Vulnerability of Indian users

According to Grandhi, India’s vulnerability stems from multiple factors including a large pool of potential victims with moderate income, cheap data, expansion of digital payments, and low digital literacy.

Grandhi noted that the widespread availability of affordable smartphones and low-cost mobile data has dramatically increased internet penetration, enabling fraudsters to reach potential victims through social media messages, phone calls and messaging platforms.

“The “digital arrest” scam described by Meta relies on phone and video calls in which actors in uniform frighten victims by impersonating law enforcement officials,” he explained.

Taking an urgent view of the threat landscape, Prashant Mali described the findings as a “clarion call” for stronger legal safeguards against rapidly evolving cybercrime networks.

Generative AI powering next-gen scams

Experts also warn that the growing use of artificial intelligence is making scams harder to detect.

Grandhi said generative AI tools are enabling fraudsters to create fake online identities with realistic profile photos, detailed backstories and convincing communication styles.

“Generative AI has lowered the barrier to entry for scammers and increased the quality and believability of their schemes,” he said.

He added that AI enables multi turn conversations that mimic natural language and incorporate cultural nuances.

“Attackers use these tools to generate “hyper personalised” lures, making fake accounts difficult for ordinary users to distinguish from legitimate ones. They also deploy deepfake videos to evade platform likeness detection systems,” Grandhi said.

Global web of cybercrime syndicates

Another major challenge highlighted in the report is the international nature of scam operations. Many networks targeting Indian users operate from large-scale scam centres in parts of Southeast Asia, particularly in regions of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

Mali pointed out that scam syndicates are no longer static, but constantly shifting geographies while simultaneously refining their narratives.

Grandhi said such cross-border networks are difficult for law enforcement agencies to dismantle due to limited jurisdiction, fragmented governance, different legal frameworks, a lack of extradition, and limited investigative capacity.

Mali says, “I feel we must prosecute these syndicates early in the Fraud Attack Chain, where building infrastructure meets human trafficking, to impose realworld costs and protect the innocent from tailored exploitation that turns loneliness into loss.”

He further argued that tackling the problem requires ecosystem-wide accountability. “True justice demands ecosystem-wide disruption, from app stores to advertisers, to prevent these financially-driven abuses that scar victims and erode trust in technology,” he added.

AI-powered nudify apps and scams

The report raises serious concerns about AI-enabled sexual exploitation tools known as “nudify” apps, which use artificial intelligence to generate fake explicit images of individuals without their consent.

Raising alarm over emerging forms of AI-enabled abuse, Mali described the rise of so-called “nudify” applications as a “grotesque violation of human dignity”, noting that such tools use generative AI to create non-consensual intimate images.

The rise of AI-driven abuse has also prompted calls for stronger regulation and technological safeguards.

Grandhi pointed to India’s recent amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which introduce a statutory definition of “deepfake” and require faster takedown of objectionable content reported to social media platforms.

He said such regulatory steps, combined with technological solutions like digital watermarking and AI-based detection systems, could help platforms identify manipulated media and curb the spread of harmful content.

From a legal standpoint, Mali suggested that certain organised cybercrime groups may warrant classification under anti-terror frameworks to enable stronger cross-border enforcement.

“Designating these groups as terrorists underscores the need for cross-border prosecutions, as seen in disruptions of Mexico-focused meth sales and cross-US-Mexico fentanyl rings, actioning thousands of accounts under Dangerous Organizations policies,” he said.

He also pointed to the role of state-linked influence operations, noting that the report details coordinated activities originating from countries such as Iran, Pakistan, Russia and China.

“As an advocate, I stress the urgency of global collaboration sharing indicators via GitHub and partnering with OpenAI to counter these state-linked deceptions that blend fake grassroots media with stolen imagery,” Mali said.

Call for stronger laws and digital literacy

However, experts stress that improving cybersecurity awareness among users is equally important.

Grandhi said India must invest significantly in digital literacy programmes as a long-term defence against online fraud.

For policy makers Grandhi suggests that they should update the IT Act and criminal code to cover AI assisted fraud and synthetic identity theft.

What does the Meta report say?

The First Half 2026 Adversarial Threat Report released by Meta Platforms provides a comprehensive overview of the rapidly evolving global cyber-threat landscape and highlights how large-scale criminal networks are increasingly exploiting social media platforms to conduct scams, spread misinformation, and facilitate illegal activities.

The report is particularly significant because it identifies India as one of the most frequently targeted countries by international scam networks, especially due to its large English-speaking digital population and rapidly expanding online economy.

“We removed over 10.9 million Facebook and Instagram accounts, 600,000 Facebook Pages, and 112,000 Ad Accounts in 2025 for violating our policies against Fraud, Scams and Deceptive Practices and Dangerous Organizations and Individuals”.

A major concern highlighted in the report is the growing role of artificial intelligence in cybercrime. AI is being used to generate realistic conversations, translate messages into different languages, and create entire fake business infrastructures, including websites, email correspondence, and digital documents, to make scams appear legitimate.

The report also identifies several emerging scam trends that exploit vulnerable situations and emotional distress as investigators uncovered networks that posted fake rental listings targeting individuals searching for affordable housing, particularly those facing financial hardship.

Another disturbing trend involves “fake funeral livestream” scams, in which criminals impersonate funeral service providers and contact family members of recently deceased individuals, offering paid access to live-streamed memorial services that do not exist.

The report raises serious concerns about AI-enabled sexual exploitation tools known as “nudify” apps, which use artificial intelligence to generate fake explicit images of individuals without their consent. To combat this issue, Meta reported removing hundreds of thousands of advertisements promoting such apps and taking enforcement action against numerous accounts and networks responsible for promoting these services.

(With inputs from Sumit Kumar Singh)