Festival of Fraud: How Scammers Exploit Ganesh Chaturthi for Cybercrime

As Ganesh Chaturthi approaches, CloudSEK notes that cybercriminals exploit the festival’s heightened emotions, generosity, and online activity to mount fraud campaigns targeting devotees across India, with scams spiking during major celebrations. According to CloudSEK, the scams take several forms, including fake online idol sellers, lottery and lucky draw fraud, fake shopping ads and websites, fake event passes, fake loan offers, and fake delivery alerts and gift cards.

The report details several major incidents tied to Ganesh Chaturthi, such as an online sweet purchase scam in which a Mumbai businessman lost over ₹1.38 lakh; fake festival contributions worth ₹37,000; a virtual darshan scam ranging from ₹701 to ₹21,000 per victim; and committee-level fraud in Jharkhand estimated at ₹6 Lakh. It emphasises that these are not isolated cyber incidents but cultural exploitations of faith and festivity, turning celebration into opportunities for fraud.

The findings underscore how scammers use social engineering and counterfeit sites, WhatsApp engagements, and QR code payments to drain victims’ funds during the festival period.