I4C, Amazon India launch nationwide campaign to combat online fraud ahead of festive season

The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) and Amazon India have launched #ScamSmartIndia, a nationwide campaign to combat online fraud. The initiative includes awareness drives, multilingual safety tips, and AI-powered solutions to safeguard consumers ahead of the festive season.

Hyderabad: The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Amazon India have launched #ScamSmartIndia, a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about online fraud and scams ahead of the festive shopping season.

The initiative aims to take scam literacy to the grassroots level by combining education, awareness, and technology-driven prevention. Through this collaboration, I4C and Amazon seek to make fraud detection knowledge accessible, relatable, and actionable for consumers.

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As part of the campaign, a series of national and regional initiatives will be rolled out in the coming months. These include social media content simplifying fraud scenarios into safety tips, digital ads with safety advisories, and educational flyers included in Amazon deliveries. Other measures include weekly multilingual tips under the ‘Scam-Free September’ initiative and a nationwide hackathon to design AI-powered solutions for scam detection and prevention.

Nishant Kumar, Director of I4C, said, “Shopping is a natural part of every Indian household during the festive season. It is also a time of heightened fraudulent activity, particularly targeting first-time internet users and senior citizens. This partnership with Amazon will create awareness and help consumers detect and avoid frauds, ensuring a safer shopping experience.”

Rakesh Bakshi, Vice President – Legal, Amazon India, added, “At Amazon, customer trust is our highest priority. When scammers misuse the names of trusted brands to trick consumers, they not only harm businesses but also damage confidence in the digital economy. Through our partnership with I4C, we aim to proactively educate and empower shoppers to recognize, avoid, and report scams.”

The collaboration comes at a critical time, with more than half of all fraud cases in India now taking place online, according to a recent McAfee report. The festive shopping season is seen as a period of heightened risk.

The initiative also builds on Amazon’s ongoing consumer safety efforts, which include workshops conducted with industry bodies across the country to promote safe online shopping practices.