Beyond The Screen: The Silent Crisis Of Online Financial Exploitation In India
- IJLLR Journal
- 6 hours ago
- 1 min read
Paridhi Sankhla, Gujarat National Law University, Silvassa Campus
ABSTRACT
This article explores the burgeoning epidemic of cyber-enable financial crimes and their disproportionate impact on India’s most vulnerable populations. As India undergoes a rapid digital transformation, a surge in scams – ranging from AI-driven deepfakes and “digital arrests” to predatory lending apps which has created a pandora’s box of cyber-crime. This article identifies the elderly, low-income individuals, rural women and students as primary target, citing low digital literacy, socio-economic pressure and psychological manipulation as key driver of their vulnerability.
Despite the existence of Information Technology Act, 200 and RBI guidelines, the study reveals that justice is frequently stalled by jurisdictional hurdles, low conviction rates etc. Ultimately, online fraud as a matter of social injustice, calling for transition from receiving policing to a victim centered model that prioritizes localized digital literacy and hold platform intermediaries accountable to protect most vulnerable citizen.
Keywords: Cyber Crime, Digital Literacy, Predatory Lending Apps, Digital Arrest, Phishing, IT Act, RBI regulation.
