One improper click on, a fraudulent fee gateway, and hundreds swiped from a checking account. 

All in a matter of some seconds. 

Nobody is a stranger to the colossal universe of on-line frauds, every with a extra plausible bait than the earlier. Pratyusha Vemuri, a safety chief from Mumbai, had her fair proportion of those. Nonetheless, it was an incident in 2021 that provoked her to show the frequent downside right into a booming enterprise thought. 

Her brainchild ‘Panoplia.io’, rebranded to raptorX.ai, launched in Might 2023 is an AI-based cybersecurity agency that’s arising with options and apps to offer companies and people freedom from the clutches of on-line scams whereas bettering the safety of monetary transactions within the digital area. 

The thought gained favour from the judges on Shark Tank Season 3, the place it struck a deal of Rs 1 crore for two.5 p.c fairness. 

As for the street forward, Pratyusha says she is trying to channel the funds into providing B2B providers and constructing a powerful crew. Wanting again on the journey that led her thus far, Pratyusha recollects being the sufferer of a rip-off. 

The swing that by no means noticed the sunshine of day 

In 2021, having simply returned from the US the place she was working in safety divisions main product groups in multinational corporations resembling Microsoft and Akamai, Pratyusha recollects desirous to deck up her house for Diwali festivities that 12 months. 

She was in quest of the proper swing. And lo and behold, an internet site on-line appeared to supply simply the one she was searching for. “Because it was Diwali, the swing was being offered at a reduction of 40 p.c. It was an excellent deal,” she recounts. 

Diwali got here and went. However the swing didn’t flip up. 

That’s when it dawned on Pratyusha that she’d been scammed. “I’m normally cautious due to my background in safety techniques,” she explains. The truth that the web site was ‘Google sponsored’ led her to imagine that it was a protected web site. However as she found whereas constructing raptorX.ai, a number of components deemed an internet site’s authenticity — some that may very well be simply missed out on irrespective of how cautious one is. 

Outlined as ‘the fraudulent apply of sending emails or different messages purporting to be from respected corporations to induce people to disclose private info, resembling passwords and bank card numbers’, phishing is extra rampant right now than ever earlier than. 

The rise in digital transactions and purchases is responsible. 

Based on a survey by Norton LifeLock in 2020, Rs 1.24 trillion was misplaced in India within the previous 12 months attributable to cybercrimes, with 63 p.c of victims incurring a monetary loss. 

However the query begs to be requested, if individuals are conscious of phishing practices, how are so many nonetheless being scammed? Why has the current previous seen an erosion of belief in on-line transactions? 

“Individuals are inclined to overlook the finer nuances,” solutions Pratyusha. 

“Each message has a supply. I’d recommend trying on the supply and the main points of the message clearly. If it’s a web site, together with making certain the location is safe, additionally examine the contact info supplied. Strive getting in contact with them to examine the legitimacy, check out their insurance policies.” 

However juggling all of this whereas buying on-line is a process, agrees the techie. 

“It’s a huge checklist of issues, however since we’re all strapped for time, AI can be utilized to run an algorithm that may predict the fraudulent nature of internet sites or SMSes,” she notes.

And that is the place raptorX.ai is available in to speed up the method. 

AI that serves as your eyes 

The street to constructing the AI-based cybersecurity agency was fraught with studying. The gamut of on-line frauds was many, Pratyusha found — bank card frauds, UPI frauds, refund frauds, spoofing, identification theft, rip-off pop-up alerts, and so on. 

Thus, raptorX.ai’s answer works on an algorithm the place it assesses an internet site’s Alexa Rank (a dependable indicator to guage the web site’s recognition based mostly on the amount of web site guests in a given time-frame). “The recognition of an internet site could be a key indicator of how dependable it’s,” says Pratyusha. The following facet is social media exercise. 

“Rip-off web sites are sometimes not too bothered by this, because it takes effort and assets to take care of social media pages. Subsequently our algorithm can examine if a web site has lively social media accounts and can modify the rating accordingly.”

The efficiency of an internet site is one other parameter judged by raptorX.ai. “Scammers have sloppy, inefficient web sites. Our algorithm takes this under consideration and can scale back the rating based mostly on poor efficiency on this space.” 

She provides, “We additionally have a look at the safety of the web site; when the safety cert was issued and when it expires together with any recognized malware on it.”

She goes on so as to add that sure markers recommend whether or not a enterprise is real or not. These embrace clear firm information — “Real companies normally don’t have anything to cover and don’t disguise their firm information from the registration” and age of the web site — “Rip-off websites are normally run as ‘hit-and-run’ operations, that means that the location is created with the intention of being rapidly shut down by the house owners after scamming a whole lot of clients”. 

In time, the scope of raptorX.ai’s options is just set to extend, says Pratyusha. That is in keeping with the increase that the worldwide Fraud Detection and Prevention (FDP) market is witnessing. 

As of 2023, the Fraud Detection and Prevention market was valued at roughly $44 billion and poised for substantial progress over the subsequent 5 years. 

A report printed in Fortune Enterprise Insights states that the sector is estimated to succeed in a dimension of $180 billion by 2030. This may influence all sectors starting from banking and monetary providers — a main goal for fraud — to retail and eCommerce. Even healthcare shall be positively impacted. AI will step in to safeguard affected person information, and insurance coverage claims, and likewise be instrumental in medical fraud detection.

Pratyusha provides, “Our firm, raptorX.ai, has its personal patented AI which might detect fraudulent rings virtually immediately and course of real-time information to detect all advanced frauds. It additionally supplies an in depth understanding of customers so companies could make higher and revolutionary selections on their merchandise and improve top-line income and scale back buyer churn.” 

“Frauds are very nuanced and industries want nuanced options to stop frauds. It’s much more important in India and APAC as there are so many companies coming on-line and they’re uncovered to extra fraud than malware!”

One other service by raptorX.ai is the AI Kavach app, which scours a consumer’s telephone when downloaded and factors out rip-off messages and web sites. 

Pratyusha calls it a one-stop answer to all cybersecurity qualms. “A consumer can obtain the app, pay as little as 99 Rs/12 months, and provides the required clear permissions to detect fraud web sites and messages real-time on the telephone.”

The app has been delisted for a couple of months based mostly on Shark Tank’s suggestions and can quickly be accessible for obtain. The present focus is on scaling the B2B providers. 

As for Pratyusha, she is thrilled on the journey forward. “I took an issue and determined to channel my experience to provide you with an answer. I’m glad it could possibly assist many.”

Edited by Padmashree Pande.