Social media, though, a door to millions of new opportunities, can turn out to be a very dark space if misused. The technology that was put in place in order to help us and make our lives easier is now being misused by many offenders to commit serious cybercrimes. In this blog, we endeavour to explain the procedure for filing a cyber complaint online.
TYPES OF CYBER CRIMES
- Child Pornography: Any material containing any sexual image of any child who is being abused or exploited comes under child pornography. Section 67(B) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 makes the act of publishing or transmitting child pornography in any electronic form a punishable offence.
- Cyberbullying: Harassing someone through any electronic means or by using any social media platform, either through messages, images, videos, etc., counts as cyberbullying.
- Cyber-Stalking: Cyber-stalking is the act of invading someone’s privacy and following their online presence without their consent.
- Online Financial Frauds: Online financial frauds include a variety of frauds that involve the loss of money of the victim. Some examples are – credit/debit card fraud, online job fraud, vishing/phishing, ransomware, etc.
- Identity theft: Personifying someone’s identity dishonestly online in order to commit crimes in their name is referred to as identity theft.
HOW TO REGISTER YOUR ONLINE COMPLAINT
One can register and report any cybercrime against them or any other person online on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, which is a government initiative in order to facilitate victims who want to report cybercrimes online and not in physical mode.
Depending upon the nature of the cybercrime one wishes to report, the portal invites complaints under three major heads:
- Women/child-related crime
- Financial fraud
- Any other cyber crime
The portal offers to file online complaints in two modes:
- Register Anonymously
If you don’t want to disclose your identity or report a complaint on someone else’s behalf without giving personal details about yourself, you can register an online complaint anonymously.
However, if you choose to register anonymously, then you do not have the option to track your online complaint.
- Register & Track
If you choose to register and track your online complaint on the portal, you can know the status of your complaint through a unique number of your complaint given to your registered email ID and phone number. However, this requires you to make a user profile on the portal and it asks for certain personal information, including your name, date of birth, mobile number, gender, email ID, address, etc.
Step By Step Guide To Register And Track Your Online Complaint
- Step 1: Incident Details: Also referred to as complaint details, this section requires you to give all important details regarding the cybercrime, including:
-
- Category of the complaint
- Subcategory of the complaint
- Approximate date/time of the incident
- Whether there was any delay in reporting the incident
- Where did the incident occur?
- Supporting evidence: Any case is as strong as its evidence. Remember to be vigilant and record and gather as much evidence as you can, such as bank statements, credit receipts, online money transfer receipts in cases of financial fraud, screenshots, website URLs, email IDs, brochures/pamphlets, images, videos, voice recordings, etc.
- Additional information about the incident
- Step 2: Suspect Details:
- The next section is about the suspect’s details. This includes recording any information that you might have regarding the suspect, including their name/ email ID/ photograph or address of the suspect.
- Since these details of the suspect are not always known by the complainant, this section is not mandatory to fill out.
- You can also file a complaint against multiple suspects and share details regarding each one of them.
- Step 3: Complainant/Victim Details: Under this section, you are required to fill out details regarding the victim or yourself if you are complaining on behalf of someone else. It includes information such as
- Name
- Mobile Number
- Gender
- Date of Birth
- Email ID
- Relationship with the victim (Self in case you are the victim of the cybercrime)
- Any national ID of the victim (Aadhar, Passport, Ration Card, or any other governmentt issued ID)
- Step 4: Complainant/Victim Address: Fill out the complete address of the victim/complainant in order to track your complaint and help the police contact you in case of any development in the case concerned.
- Step 5: Submit your application: Make sure to preview your details thoroughly before submitting your application, as giving any wrong information is punishable. Please note that complaints filed under ‘women/child-related crime’ cannot be withdrawn. Other complaints can be redacted until they get converted into an FIR.
TRACK YOUR COMPLAINT
Once your complaint has been successfully registered, you will receive an acknowledgment number on your registered mail ID and phone number. One should note this number carefully, as it will be used to track the status of your complaint on the national cybercrime reporting portal itself.
Your online complaint shall be transferred to the nearest police station. The name and number of the police officer investigating your complaint is also sent to you via SMS.
The investigation generally takes a few days towards completion and it is only recommended to wait until this period of time before filing any duplicate complaint.
CONCLUSION
If we report cybercrimes, we will not only aid ourselves as victims, rather also contribute towards making the nation’s online environment safer for all. By being vigilant, people can contribute to the development of a safer online environment and help law enforcement agencies better combat cyber threats or cyber crimes.
The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal link is provided below. Take action against cybercrimes right now!