This post is written by Shelal Lodhi Rajput, a first year student of Symbiosis Law School, Pune.

As law cannot remain static in the same manner, we see changing nature of crime in every aspect. The concept of crime is not new but it has been existing from time immemorial. In the era of 20^th century with the advent of computer, criminals have changed the way of committing crime and now we are world where whole world is a global digital village and at every point we are covered from technology. The new nature of crime committed in field of technology is termed as Cybercrime (first recorded in 1820). Here you will get to see a step by step guide to lodge a Cybercrime complaint with cyber cell of police. Before it we see what, is actually termed as cybercrime?

What is Cyber Crime?

If we want a definition of cybercrime it is not possible to define it, as it can be done in any way from computer and use of technology, that’s why it is not defined in Information Technology Act 2000 nor in the I.T. Amendment Act 2008 nor in any other legislation in India. But in simple terms “Any criminal activity or unlawful act that uses a computer or networked device either as an instrumentality, target or a means for perpetuating further crimes comes within the ambit of cybercrime”.

Some of the common cybercrimes are cyber terrorism, Hacking, Virus attack, DoS (Denial of Service attack), Phishing & credit card fraud etc. To facilitate society on the issue of cybercrimes, there are various cybercrime cells in different cities. The I.T. Act of India states clearly that when a cyber crime has been committed, it has a global jurisdiction, and hence a complaint can be filed at any cyber cell, so jurisdiction is mainly not an issue.

Three Steps to File a cybercrime complaint in India?

Here below are few simple steps to file cybercrime complaint against suspected in India.

STEP I: If you are victim of cybercrime, the first thing you must do is file a  written cybercrime complaint with the cybercrime cell of your city and also cybercrime complaint can be registered anywhere in India as jurisdiction is not an issue according to I.T. Act 2000. Complaint can be made both through online and offline method, one can also give a call at cybercrime helpline number for same.

STEP II:  An application letter for filing cybercrime complaint along with the name, email id and phone number must be written by you and it should be addressed to the Head of the Cybercrime cell.

STEP III: When you are filing the complaint for cybercrime you will must provider certain documents in order to register a complaint, the list of documents varies with each crime its dynamic. One requisite is that you have to attach or annex the documents which support the facts of case fully. The type of documents must be in consonance with the nature of crime for which you are lodging complaint.

Below here a list is provided that what are different documents you needed to provide for filing a complaint in that particular crime.

For filing complaint against E-mail abuse.

• A written complaint stating the complete incidence.
• Must submit the copy of the suspected mail from original receiver.
• The entire header of the mail which is suspected.
• Both soft and hard copy of suspected emails. (in CD-R only).

For filing complaint against social media.

• A screenshot or copy of the alleged profile or content.
• A copy of the URL of the alleged content or profile.
• Both hard and soft copy of the alleged content
• Soft copy must be provided in CD-R form.

For filling complaint against online transactions/ ATM transactions/Fake call/Internet banking

• Copy of bank statement for last 6 months.
• Copy of SMS received regarding the alleged transactions.
• Copy of your ID Proof and address proof as shown in bank records

For filing complaint against data theft complaints.

• A copy of the stolen data and brief.
• The copyright certificate of the stolen data.
• Details of the suspected employee/ employees.
• Letter of appointment of suspected employment.
• Non disclosure agreement of the above said employee

For filing complaint against business Email.

• A written brief about the incident.
• Name as in the email or offender and location.
• Bank name and account number as per the email.
• Recipient’s name, bank account number as in bank records.
• Date and amount of transaction.
• SWIFT number.

What are the steps to lodge an online complaint?

A quick step by step guide to lodge online complaint against cybercrime.

1.Open “ https://cybercrime.gov,in” and click on ‘File a complaint button’

2. Now, accept the terms and conditions at the next page.

3. Then click on the ‘Report other cybercrime’ button

4.Choose the option ‘citizen login’ and fill in the key details.

5. Enter the OTP received, fill in the mathematical captcha and proceed to submit button.

6. At the next screen, you will be asked to enter key details in a form, which is divided into four parts and preview and submit it.

7.At the incident details page, enter all the details and then click on ‘Save and next’.

8.You might also need to enter social media account details, website URL and update supporting evidence of the crime.

9. Click on ‘Save and next’ button

10. After this enter the details of alleged or suspect if you have.

11. At the above step (i.e. complaints details) enter your details and proceed to next step.

12.Now, verify each and every details and click on the ‘Confirm and Submit’ button to successfully file the complaint.

13.You can also download the PDF file for same by clicking on the ‘Download PDF’ button at last step.

List of Cybercrime cells in India

Conclusion

A crime free society is utopian and it is not possible in reality, especially when we are talking about society that is dependent more and more on technology. The cybercrime is still is in its initial phase and we require a lot to develop for same. Hence its should be duty of three stake holders to ensure that technology grows in a healthy manner and not to be misused by criminals for different offences.

• Rulers, regulators, law makers.
• Technology providers or network service providers or banks or other bodies like that.
• The users to take care of information security and being aware always, comply with the laws of land and with changing time become more aware and show diligence.

The ultimate responsibility lies on the citizens to get aware about cybercrime related transaction. At last it’s the people who must safeguard their own information by becoming security for same then only cyber crimes can be prevented easily. The ways in which you can protect yourself from cyber crime is that use a good internet security site, strong passwords, strong firewall, antivirus in devices and know what to do if you got in the trap of cyber-attack and become victim

To sum up I would like to quote:  “Passwords or Data are like underwear: don’t let people see it, change it very often, and you shouldn’t share it with strangers.” – Chris Pirillo.