Context
- The Status of Policing in India Report (SPIR) 2026, by Common Cause and Lokniti-CSDS, examined citizens’ experiences of cybercrime and the effectiveness of institutional redress.
- Based on a survey of 8,306 citizens across 16 States, it highlights that cybercrime is not merely a cybersecurity problem but also an issue of policing, accountability and access to justice.
Changing Nature of Cyber Fraud
- Social engineering: Modern fraud increasingly exploits fear, trust, greed and urgency, rather than depending only on technical hacking.
- Evolving methods: Fake investment offers, impersonation, phishing and “digital arrest” scams show how criminals adapt their methods to changing digital behaviour.
- Connectivity risk: Greater digital participation increases exposure to fraudulent calls, links and messages; therefore, even educated and digitally active users can become targets.
Social engineering means psychologically manipulating people into revealing sensitive information or transferring money.
Challenges in Accessing Justice for Cyber Fraud Victims
- Under-reporting: Only 49% of surveyed cybercrime victims complained to police, while 39% did not complain at all and another 9% approached police but did not pursue the matter.
- Reported payments: Among those who complained, 27% reported making a payment to police at some stage to get their case handled.
- Dependence on influence: Around 37% used personal contacts, including senior police or government officials and local politicians, to seek police action.
- Unequal burden: Poor, rural and women victims were more likely to report using such informal channels, indicating that barriers to justice can affect social groups differently.
- Recovery gap: Full recovery was reported by 41% of those who paid, compared with 12% among those who did not. Similarly, 32% using personal contacts reported full recovery against 13% among those who did not. These are associations and do not establish that payments or influence caused better recovery.
Thus, cybercrime becomes an access-to-justice issue when effective redress appears dependent on factors beyond transparent and uniform institutional procedures.
Why Is Cyber Fraud Difficult to Address?
- Rapid fund movement: Stolen money can move through multiple accounts quickly, reducing the time available for recovery.
- Mule accounts: Intermediary accounts help receive and transfer fraud proceeds while concealing the ultimate beneficiary.
- Jurisdictional complexity: Victims, offenders, banks and digital infrastructure may be located across different States or countries.
- Digital anonymity: Fake identities and online accounts make identification and evidence collection difficult.
India’s Institutional Response
- Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): An attached office of the Ministry of Home Affairs since July 2024, it acts as a nodal point in India’s fight against cybercrime.
- National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal: Provides an online mechanism for citizens to report cybercrime.
- Helpline 1930: Enables rapid reporting of financial cyber fraud, improving the possibility of timely intervention against fraudulent transactions.
What Needs to Improve?
- Victim-centric policing: Make complaint registration simple, accessible and independent of personal influence.
- Rapid financial response: Strengthen real-time coordination among police, banks, telecom operators and digital platforms to freeze fraudulent funds.
- Police capacity: Improve local capabilities in cyber forensics, digital evidence and financial tracing.
- Network disruption: Target the wider fraud ecosystem, including mule accounts, fake identities and supporting financial networks.
- Outcome-based accountability: Evaluate redress through response time, fund recovery and case disposal, rather than complaint registration alone.
FAQs
Q1. What is social engineering?
It is psychological manipulation used to obtain sensitive information or money from victims.
Q2. What is a mule account?
It is an account used to receive or transfer illegally obtained money for fraudsters.
Q3. What is I4C?
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre is an attached office of the Ministry of Home Affairs and a nodal point for combating cybercrime.
Q4. Which helpline can be used for financial cyber fraud?
Financial cyber fraud can be rapidly reported through 1930.
Q5. Why is cyber fraud an access-to-justice issue?
Because effective justice requires accessible reporting, fair investigation and timely recovery irrespective of a victim’s economic or social position.
