Don't Panic, Stay Alert. CBI/Police/Custom/ED/Judges DO NOT arrest you on video call. (Representational) What is Digital Arrest? What are the recent initiatives of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)? Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your knowledge nugget for today.
(Relevance: UPSC has repeatedly asked questions on cyber security in General Studies Paper III. In the Prelims, terms related to cyber attacks were asked in 2018. Therefore, knowing about these terms is essential for your UPSC preparation.)
On Sunday, in his monthly radio address, Mann Ki Baat, the PM cautioned against “digital arrest fraud”, in which “fraudsters impersonate as police, CBI, narcotics, (and) at times RBI” and exert so much “psychological pressure on the victim that one gets scared.” He noted that “people have lost lakhs of rupees”.
1. While the digital age has brought unparalleled convenience and connectivity, it has also seen a parallel and alarming rise in cybercrime. This surge is attributed to the increasing penetration of the Internet and digital services across the globe, making more individuals and organizations vulnerable to cyber threats.
2. Cybercrime encompasses a wide range of malicious activities, including identity theft, online fraud, financial fraud, hacking, cyberstalking, and the distribution of harmful software, among others. Digital Arrest is a form of online fraud.
3. A “Digital Arrest” scam involves fraudsters impersonating law enforcement via video calls, threatening fake arrests to extort money.
4. In the majority of cases, online frauds and criminals typically call potential victims and tell them that they have sent or are the intended recipients of a parcel containing illegal goods, drugs, fake passports or any other contraband item. In some cases, the criminals contact relatives or friends of the target and tell them that the target has been found to be involved in a crime or an accident, and is in their custody.
5. The criminals, who often use pictures or identities of police personnel to convey authenticity, usually demand money from the target for a ‘compromise’ and closure of the case. In certain cases, the victims are “digitally arrested”, and forced to stay visible over Skype or other video conferencing platforms to the criminals until their demands are met.
6. Cybercriminals are also known to use studios that look like police stations or government offices and to wear uniforms similar to those of law enforcement agencies.
7. As per the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, there are several types of rackets — digital arrest, trading scam, investment scam and romance/dating scam. Over the past eleven months, an estimated 92,323 cases of digital arrest scams have been recorded with victims in India losing a total of Rs 2,140.99 crore, as per I4C.
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Whale Phishing |
| A phishing attack is defined as the fraudulent practice of impersonating reputed and official names and identities through email, text messages, or phone calls to trick the victim into sharing personal sensitive information like banking and credit card details and login or identity information. Unlike the typical phishing scams, whale phishing or spear phishing are focused on specific individuals, often top officials of the company who handle finances. |
Advisory issued by I4C
Don’t Panic, Stay Alert. CBI/Police/Custom/ED/Judges DO NOT arrest you on video call
1. The I4C, established in 2018, is a department under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) tasked with establishing a national-level coordination centre to address cybercrime-related issues.
Cybercrimes see “no boundary” and common people should be made aware of these offences, the Union Home Minister said. (Express photo by Amit Mehra)
2. In September 2024, four I4C platforms were inaugurated — the Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC), the ‘Samanvaya’ platform, a Cyber Commandos programme and a Suspect Registry.
3. The Central Suspect Registry will serve as a central-level database with consolidated data on cybercrime suspects from across the country. The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) has been tasked with establishing the Suspect Registry.
4. The CFMC will focus on addressing online financial fraud and scams. It looks to prevent such cybercrimes by facilitating cooperation between various stakeholders such as major banks, payment aggregators, telecom companies, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), central agencies, and local police on a single platform.
5. The Samanvaya Platform, also known as the Joint Cybercrime Investigation Facilitation System, will be designed as a single repository of data pertaining to cyber crimes. This unified database is expected to aid in cybercrime mapping, data sharing, data analytics, cooperation and coordination among law enforcement agencies across India.
6. A special wing of ‘Cyber Commandos’ will be specially trained to counter cyber security threats. These commandos will be stationed in Central Police Organisations (CPOs) in all states and Union Territories. The government plans to train and deploy 5,000 such Cyber Commandos over the next five years
(Source: What is ‘digital arrest’, What are ‘digital arrest’ scams? Why do many Indians fall for them?, Samanvaya portal, suspect registry: What to know about govt’s latest anti-cybercrime push)
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