Lok Sabha Question No. 4556 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-28
Subject: Cyber Crimes through Messages
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Dhal Singh Bisen

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4556

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 28 TH  MARCH, 2023/ CHAITRA 7, 1945 (SAKA)

CYBER CRIMES THROUGH MESSAGES

†4556.  DR. DHAL SINGH BISEN:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the incidences of misguiding and looting the public through cyber crime by sending messages;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of the steps taken by the Government to check the same;
- (d) whether the Government has made or proposes to make any provisions to provide assistance to the victims of online frauds; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI AJAY KUMAR MISHRA)

(a) to (e) : With enhanced use of cyber space, number of cyber crimes is also increasing. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes the statistical data on crimes in its publication 'Crime in India'. The latest published report is for the year 2021. As per the data published by  the  NCRB,  year-wise  summary  of  cases  registered  under  Fraud  for Cyber Crime during last three years is as under:

| Fraud for   | Year   | Year   | Year   |
|-------------|--------|--------|--------|
| Fraud for   | 2019   | 2020   | 2021   |
| Cases       | 6,229  | 10,395 | 14,007 |

## L.S. USQ. NO. 4556 FOR 28.03.2023

'Police'  and  'Public  Order'  are  State  subjects  as  per  the  Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. States/UTs are primarily responsible for  the  prevention,  detection,  investigation  and  prosecution  of  crimes including  cyber  financial  crimes. The  Central  Government  supplements the initiatives of the State Governments through advisories and schemes for  the  capacity  building  of  their  Law  Enforcement  Agencies  (LEAs). To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter-alia, include the following:

- i. The  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  has  set  up  the  'Indian  Cyber  Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)' to deal with all types of cyber crimes in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.
- ii. The  state-of-the-art  National  Cyber  Forensic  Laboratory  has  been established, as a part of the I4C, at New Delhi to provide early stage cyber forensic assistance to Investigating Officers (IOs) of State/UT Police.
- iii. The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform, namely 'CyTrain' portal has been developed under the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), for capacity building of police officers/judicial officers through online courses on critical aspects of cyber  crime  investigation,  forensics,   prosecution etc.  along  with

## L.S. USQ. NO. 4556 FOR 28.03.2023

certification. More than 31,000 Police Officers from States/UTs are registered  and  more  than  8,300  Certificates  issued  through  the portal.

- iv. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) has  been  launched,  as  a  part  of  I4C,  to  enable  public  to  report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, with special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. Cyber crime incidents reported  on  this  portal,  their  conversion  into  FIRs  and  subsequent action  thereon  are  handled  by  the  State/UT  Law  Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) concerned as per the provisions of the law.
- v. The  Citizen  Financial  Cyber  Fraud  Reporting  and  Management System,  under  I4C,  has  been  launched  for  immediate  reporting  of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters. So far,  financial  fraud  transactions  amounting  to  more  than  Rs.  306 Crore have been saved. A toll-free Helpline number '1930' has been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.
- vi. Seven Joint Cyber Coordination Teams have been constituted under I4C  covering  the  whole  country  based  upon  cyber  crime  hotspots/ areas having multi jurisdictional issues by on boarding States/UTs to enhance  the coordination framework  among  the  LEAs  of the States/UTs.

## L.S. USQ. NO. 4556 FOR 28.03.2023

- vii. To spread awareness on cyber crime, the Central Government has taken  steps  which,  inter-alia,  include;  dissemination  of  messages through SMS, I4C social media account i.e. Twitter handle (@Cyberdost),  Facebook  (CyberDostI4C),  Instagram  (cyberdosti4c), Telegram(cyberdosti4c), Radio campaign, engaged MyGov for publicity in multiple mediums, organizing Cyber Safety and Security Awareness  weeks  in  association  with  States/UTs,  publishing  of Handbook for Adolescents/Students, etc. The States/UTs have also been requested to carry out publicity to create mass awareness.

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