Digital Arrest: A Study Of A Rising Organised Offence Occurring In Indian Cyberspace
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Mrinmoy Roy, LL.M., Department of Law, University of North Bengal.
Arindam Dey, LL.M, Department of Law, University of North Bengal.
ABSTRACT:
The digital revolution has transformed every aspect of contemporary society, from financial transactions and work to socialising and governance. India emerging as a digital economy in the globe, reliance on digital systems has surged. However, alongside these developments, cybercrime has developed into a corresponding threat that uses the same technological networks that empower our lives. Among the variety of cybercrimes, the emergence of Digital Arrest scams has surfaced as one of the major threats in recent years. Digital arrest is a scam which utilizes intimidation, coercion, deceit, and fear to extract money from victims. Fraudsters impersonate law enforcement officers and threaten victims with arrest, bank account freezing, and passport cancellation in order to get them to pay a sum of amount in order to abstain from being brought into legal action. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) stated that in May 2024, an average of 7,000 cybercrime complaints were recorded daily, marking a significant surge of 113.7 per cent compared to the period between 2021 and 2023, and a 60.9 per cent increase from 2022 to 2023. To combat this growing crime, citizens need to be proactive and aware. Existing provisions like Section 204, 319, 336 of BNS, 2023 and Section 66C and 66D of IT Act, 2000 should be supported through more clear and classified legislations for these kinds of scams. Strict regulations should be issued by Department of Telecommunication for adequate identification of SIM Cards. Technological support should be there to detect, monitor and investigate the offences and mechanisms like AI Detection, spam alert, digital forensic tools should be adopted.
Keywords: Cyber Crime, Digital arrest, Scam, Intimidation, Coercion.
