MHA asks States to register more FIRs for cybercrime

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to all States to examine and register FIRs based on the complaints received on National Cybercrime Reporting Portal- www.cybercrime.gov.in. As per data available with the Ministry, only 2.5% of total complaints registered on the portal are converted into First Information Reports (FIRs). Through the portal, MHA aims to raise a group of “cybercrime volunteers” to flag “unlawful content” on the Internet.

The website says “Good Samaritans are welcome to register as Cyber Crime Volunteers in the role of Unlawful Content Flaggers for facilitating law enforcement agencies in identifying, reporting and removal of illegal / unlawful online content”. The unlawful content is categorised as content against the sovereignty and integrity of India, against defence of India, against security of the State, against friendly relations with foreign States, content aimed at disturbing public order, disturbing communal harmony and child sex abuse material. The volunteers will have to submit photographs, name and address proof to be enlisted as a volunteer.

On receiving the complaint, the designated Police Officer after verifying the matter will report to concerned bank and financial intermediary or payment wallet, etc., for blocking the money involved in the cyber fraud. “Use of this facility will help a victim of financial cyber fraud in retrieving the money and help Police in identifying the cyber-criminal[s] and take legal action as per law,” MHA said.

The portal since its launch last year, has received over 2 lakh complaints, but FIRs have been registered only in 5,000 cases. A senior government official said that on an average around 1,000 cybercrimes complaints from across the country are received. The rate of conversion of complaints to FIRs is very low. In July, of the over 30,000 complaints registered, only 273 FIRs were registered, the data shows.

On February 4, Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy had informed the Rajya Sabha that from August 30, 2019- January 30, 2020, as many as 33,152 cybercrime incidents were reported on the portal where 790 FIRs were registered by the concerned law enforcement agencies.

According to data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of registered cybercrimes increased by 63.5% in the year 2019 compared to the previous year.

A total of 44,546 cases were registered under cybercrimes compared to 27,248 cases in 2018. In 2019, 60.4% of cybercrime cases registered were for the motive of fraud (26,891 out of 44,546 cases) followed by sexual exploitation with 5.1% (2,266 cases) and causing disrepute with 4.2% (1,874 cases).

The portal has started a helpline only for victims of financial cyber fraud in Delhi who can dial the number 155260 or report the incident on www.cybercrime.gov.in.