Digital arrest fraud: Indians lost Rs 120 crore in January-April 2024
New Delhi: Indians lost a whopping Rs 120.3 crore to ‘digital arrest’ fraud schemes during the first quarter of 2024, according to recent government data. This alarming trend was highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which oversees cybercrime at the national level through the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), noted that digital arrests have recently emerged as a common method of cyber fraud. Many perpetrators of these scams are located in three contiguous southeast Asian countries: Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.
In its analysis of trends from January to April, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) found that 46 percent of cyber frauds reported during this period, resulting in cumulative losses of approximately Rs 1,776 crore, originated in these three countries.
As many as 7.4 lakh complaints were received between January 1 and April 30 this year, while 15.56 lakh complaints were received in 2023, according to the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) data as cited by Indian Express.
According to I4C, there are four types of scams — digital arrest, trading scam, investment scam (task based) and romance/dating scam. “We found that Indians lost Rs 120.30 crore in digital arrest, Rs 1,420.48 crore in trading scam, Rs 222.58 crore in investments scam, and Rs 13.23 crore in romance/dating scam,” Chief Executive Officer (I4C), Rajesh Kumar had said while releasing the January-April data in May, according to the publication.
I4C zeroed in on Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia after analysing data on its NCRP, inputs received from states and Union Territories, and some open-source information, IE added.
Kumar emphasised that cybercrime operations in these countries employ various deceptive tactics, such as using social media to recruit Indians by offering fraudulent employment opportunities.
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Bihar govt to constitute 100 fast-track courts to expedite disposal of criminal cases: Home min
Patna (PTI): Bihar Home Minister Samrat Choudhary on Sunday announced that the state government will establish 100 fast-track courts (FTCs) to ensure the swift disposal of pending cases.
He said that the move also aims to ease the burden on regular courts for them to accord due attention to sensitive cases.
Choudhary said the decision in this regard has been made considering that over 18 lakh cases are pending before different courts in the state.
The constitution of FTCs will "bring in a big relief" to the judicial system and litigants, he said.
"To operationalise 100 FTCs across 38 districts and sub-divisions, the government will undertake large-scale recruitment," the home minister asserted in a statement.
He said that a total of 900 posts, including those of bench clerks, office clerks, stenographers, deposition writers, data entry operators, drivers, process servers and peons, will be filled.
Choudhary also announced that 79 courts will be designated as 'act courts' to fast-track cases related to the Arms Act. Swift resolution of such serious cases, he said, will strengthen law and order in the state.
The minister said that Patna alone will get eight fast-track courts, while four courts each will be set up in Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur. Three FTCs each are planned for Nalanda (Bihar Sharif), Rohtas (Sasaram), Saran (Chhapra), Begusarai, Vaishali (Hajipur), East Champaran (Motihari), Samastipur and Madhubani.
Similarly, two courts each will be established in West Champaran (Bettiah), Saharsa, Purnea, Munger, Nawada, Jehanabad, Arwal, Aurangabad, Kaimur (Bhabhua), Buxar, Bhojpur (Arrah), Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Siwan, Gopalganj, Supaul, Madhepura, Araria, Kishanganj, Katihar, Banka, Jamui, Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai and Khagaria. One FTC each is also proposed for the sub-divisional courts of Naugachia and Bagaha.
