In New Delhi, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), established by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, has partnered with Amazon India to launch #ScamSmartIndia, a nationwide initiative aimed at protecting consumers from the increasing threat of online scams and fraud. This collaboration seeks to enhance scam literacy at the grassroots level, making it both accessible and actionable through a mix of education, awareness, and technology-driven prevention. The campaign will feature a variety of initiatives at both national and regional levels in the coming months.
These initiatives will include engaging social media content that simplifies complex fraud scenarios into clear safety tips, digital advertisements with safety advisories reaching millions of households, educational flyers included with Amazon deliveries that serve as personal safety reminders, and weekly multilingual tips under the ‘Scam-Free September’ initiative, aimed at helping consumers shop safely during the festive season. Additionally, a national hackathon will be organized to create AI-driven solutions for detecting and preventing scams. Sh Nishant Kumar, Director of I4C, remarked that shopping is a common activity in Indian households during the festive season, which also sees a surge in fraudulent activities from scammers targeting vulnerable groups such as first-time internet users and senior citizens.
This partnership with Amazon aims to raise consumer awareness on identifying fraud and avoiding scams. Rakesh Bakshi, Vice President – Legal at Amazon India, emphasized that customer trust is paramount at Amazon. He noted that when scammers exploit well-known brands to deceive customers, it not only harms businesses but also undermines consumer confidence in the entire digital economy. Through this partnership with I4C, Amazon seeks to implement proactive measures that educate and empower shoppers to recognize, evade, and report scams. This collaboration represents a significant advancement towards establishing a safer digital landscape in India, reflecting a mutual commitment to consumer protection.
This initiative is timely, given that over half of all fraud cases in India happen online, with risks particularly elevated during festive shopping periods, as indicated by a recent McAfee report. Furthermore, this effort builds on Amazon’s ongoing initiatives to protect its customers, including collaboration with various industry bodies to conduct workshops across the country aimed at educating consumers about safe online shopping practices.