NO. CLE-HO/POL/CIRCULAR/2021
January 11, 2021

Members of the Council

Sub : Need to follow adequate security protocols to avert cybercrimes

Dear Sir,

We have received a communication from Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India on the above subject, stating the following.

· One exporter from India has complained to the Embassy of India, Spain that someone has fraudulently opened another account in the name of their company in a Spanish Bank. They have expressed apprehension that their customers may be duped to remit payment against past dispatches to this account and have therefore requested assistance of EoI, Madrid. Similar incidents have also been noticed by the Missions in Sweden, Netherlands and Indonesia.

· It is pertinent to mention that while this is registered as cyber-crime in the respective jurisdictions, the exporter has to face lot of hassles in recovering the money. It appears that this can be largely prevented by implementing security protocols such as SPF, DKIM and DMARC as well as better password practices on both the sender’s and the receiver’s email IDs. Exporters may also like to confirm the bank details by another channel such as a secure voice line.

· Hence all exporters are requested to take adequate security measures and follow necessary security protocols to avert such cyber-crimes.

Members may kindly note the above.

Thanks & regards,

R.Selvam
Executive Director