The Supreme Court has warned the public against fake websites impersonating as the official website of the top court of the country to obtain their personal details.
HS Jaggi, Registrar (Technology) of the Supreme Court issued a notice, cautioning the people against sharing their confidential or financial information at such sites, noting that the Supreme Court never asked for any such information.
The Registry further shared information with law enforcement agencies about a recent phishing attack, asking them to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Issuing a list of 15 uniform source locators (URLs), the Registry said the fake websites were stated to be operating via these URLs. These include: www.scigoin.com, www.scicbiovven.com, www.scigoinvon.com, www.judiciarycheck.in, www.scis.scigovss.net, www.slcmain.in, www.judicialsearchinia.com, www.sclm.in, www.scin.in, www.scibovven.com, www.cbisciingov.com, www.govt.judicialauthority.com, www.thescoi.com, www.sclcase.com, and www.lx-yindu.top.
The Registry said any visitor on the above URLs was strongly advised not to share or divulge any personal and confidential information, as the same shall enable the perpetrators to steal the information.
The Supreme Court is the registered user of domain name www.sci.gov.in and before clicking on any URL, people should hover over it to verify the same.
In the event of someone becoming a victim of the aforementioned attack, the victims were advised to change their passwords for all online accounts, as well as contact their bank and credit card company, to report any unauthorised access.
The matter was brought to the attention of the Apex Court on January 6, during the hearing of a PIL related to the illicit felling of 454 sacred trees, destruction of protected wildlife habitats, and unlawful financial transactions exceeding Rs 500 crore conducted through unregistered kachi parchi and fraudulent land dealings
The Bench dismissed the petition on the grounds that the petitioner had approached the National Green Tribunal, where the matter was pending, but did not disclose the same in his pleadings.
During the course of hearing, Uttar Pradesh Senior AAG Garima Prashad apprised the Apex Court that about 10 IAS officers in the state were sent links via email to join the court proceedings, even though no notice had been issued.
Hearing Prashad’s submission that the emails appeared to have been sent by the Supreme Court, the Bench asked the Court Master about the same.
It further asked the petitioner-in-person about the mail reaching the respondents in this case, even before the Court issued a notice in the case, from an address different from the Supreme Court’s official address.
The petitioner categorically denied knowing anything in this regard.
Expressing concern over the matter, the Apex Court pointed out that the information sent to the respondents, through an e-mail from the so-called Supreme Court of India, said in the end ‘thanks and regards’!
When the Supreme Court of India issued summons, it never said ‘thanks and regards,’ noted the Court.
Without passing any order, The Bench orally instructed the court staff to bring the issue to the notice of the Registrar.
The post Supreme Court warns public against fake Apex Court websites seeking personal details appeared first on India Legal.