Monday, 19 May, 2025
The cases of cyber crime in the country are continuously rising as scamsters find new ways to dupe the people. Image Source: India Today
A division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale, in an order dated April 15, observed that the menace of cyber fraud is escalating and noted the increasing number of elderly individuals falling prey to online scams.
In a significant development, the city police have assured the Bombay High Court of swift and decisive action on cyber fraud complaints, pledging to sensitise police personnel to ensure timely registration of FIRs. The commitment comes amid growing concerns over the rising number of cybercrime cases, particularly those targeting vulnerable senior citizens.
A division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale, in an order dated April 15, observed that the menace of cyber fraud is escalating and noted the increasing number of elderly individuals falling prey to online scams. The court was responding to a petition filed by a Mumbai-based woman who alleged police inaction after she became a victim of cyber fraud. According to her plea, despite approaching the local police station and alerting the security personnel, her complaint was not registered. She was reportedly told that the police lacked both the manpower and technical expertise to handle such offences.
The court’s observations and the police’s assurances signal a push for stronger institutional response to the cybercrime surge, as well as greater accountability in handling digital fraud cases.
In a troubling revelation before the Bombay High Court, a woman petitioner claimed she lost a staggering ₹45 lakh due to the police’s delay in registering her cyber fraud complaint. According to her plea, by the time authorities finally intervened, only ₹2 lakh could be recovered.
The court, which is examining the city's handling of cybercrime cases, took note of the serious lapse during a hearing on April 15. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Lakhami Gautam, personally appeared before the bench and outlined the current framework for tackling such offences. He informed the court that he is presently overseeing operations at five cyber police stations across Mumbai.
Gautam explained that cases involving fraud amounts below ₹10 lakh are typically investigated by local police stations, while higher-value scams fall under the jurisdiction of dedicated cyber crime units.
Acknowledging the concerns raised by the petitioner and the court, the senior officer assured that steps would be taken to sensitise police personnel. He committed to ensuring prompt recording and registration of cybercrime complaints, aiming to bolster the city’s response to the growing threat of digital fraud.
The High Court remarked, "Gautam also assures that steps would be taken to educate people with respect to cyber frauds. He also assures that the police dealing with cyber frauds will act with alacrity whenever such cases are reported and steps will be taken to ensure that the monies that are transferred are retrieved/frozen at the earliest."
Last year, the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology (2023-24) observed that the volume and value of money lost in cyber frauds are very high in comparison to recovery rate which has been abysmally low. As per Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (14C), cyber frauds that were reported increased by 128 percent in 2022 in comparison to 2021.
The cases of cyber crime in the country are continuously rising as scamsters find new ways to dupe the people. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) Crime in India Report 2022, the total number of cases reported during the year was 65,893, showing an increase of 24.4 percent in registration over 2021 (52,974 cases). Crime rate under this category increased from 3.9 in 2021 to 4.8 in 2022. During 2022, 64.8 percent of cyber-crime cases registered were for the motive of fraud (42,710 out of 65,893 cases) followed by Extortion with 5.5 percent (3,648 cases) and Sexual Exploitation with 5.2 percent (3,434 cases). This was the highest number of cases of cyber-crime reported in a year till date. The chargesheeting rate in the cyber-crime cases was just 29.6 percent.
Source: National Crime Records Bureau
The highest number of cyber-crime cases were reported from the state of Telangana. The southern state reported 15,297 cases of cyber-crimes in 2022 followed by Karnataka (12,556) and Uttar Pradesh (10,117). Karnataka had reported 8,136 cases of cyber-crime in 2021 while Uttar Pradesh had reported 8,829 cases.
The crime of defrauding a victim of money via the internet is known as cyber fraud, online fraud, or internet fraud. To gather personal information, fraudsters can target an individual and contact them by phone, email, SMS, or other means. In order to get access to a computer, mobile device, or network and steal private information, like social security numbers, bank account details, and credit card numbers, they can also transmit malicious links to websites or applications.
The data from National Crime Records Bureau clearly shows that the cases of cybercrime in India are rising at an alarming rate. The cases of cybercrime nearly doubled from 27,248 in 2018 to 44,735 in 2019. The highest number of cybercrime cases were registered in the year 2022.
When it comes to the motivation behind cybercrime, deception was the most prevalent reason, accounting for 32,230 of the 52,974 cybercrime incidents that were reported. In terms of motives, extortion (2,883) and sexual exploitation (4,555) came after fraud. In 2021, there were 73,884 cases that required inquiry in total. In 21,229 cybercrime instances, the accused was released on the basis of either insufficient evidence or being untraceable and lacking in hints. Although the figures show how serious the increase in cybercrime is, it is concerning since they are based only on occurrences that have been recorded. Therefore, the true number of cybercrime occurrences would be far larger if we included the cases that go unreported.
The Government of India has taken several efforts and actions to improve cyber resilience and create strong frameworks for cybersecurity standards and regulations pertaining to cybercrime, which have contributed to India's impressive cybersecurity performance. The nation's judicial systems are equipped to handle cybersecurity issues and stop cybercrime, safeguarding the nation's digital infrastructure. India's cybersecurity skills are further strengthened by Sectoral Computer incident Response Teams (CSIRTs), which offer sector-specific technical help and event reporting. But in spite of these efforts taken by the government of India, the instances of cybercrime have been increasing over the years.
Though the government has been taking a number of steps to combat cyber crime in the country, the data clearly indicates that more needs to be done.
