Google steps up fight against fraud with India Safety Charter

Google on Tuesday unveiled its Safety Charter for India as part of efforts to crack down on online frauds, curb synthetic and misleading content, promote cybersecurity and responsible AI development.

This entails keeping the end user safe from online frauds and scams; cybersecurity for government and enterprise infrastructure; and building AI responsibly.

The move assumes significance as reports indicate a significant surge in cyber frauds, as scammers leverage advanced techniques like AI-generated content, deepfake videos, and voice cloning to create highly convincing fraudulent schemes.

UPI-related frauds reportedly cost Indians over Rs 1,087 crore in 2024, and industry estimates project that Indian entities could lose up to Rs 20,000 crore to cybercrime in 2025, if left unchecked, as per a Google blogpost.

Google said under the ‘Digikavach’ programme, it has reached over 177 million Indians with AI-powered protections.