The Supreme Court on Wednesday sent a stern message against the growing threat of cyber-crime, while denying bail to a man accused of cyber fraud. The bench hearing the case termed the cyber crooks as ‘parasites,’ who prey on unsuspecting citizens and siphon off their hard-earned money.

During this, the court also emphasised the need for stricter laws to tackle the rapidly expanding menace of online financial scams.

SC takes tough stand on cyber fraud

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant junked the bail plea of the accused, and expressed serious concern over the alarming rise in cyber frauds nationwide. He made strong oral observations during the hearing and remarked that cyber crooks exploit innocent people for financial gain and that they pose a significant threat to society.

He remarked, “You guys are parasites. You take money from investors and dupe them. We have to be harsh on cyber criminals. Society’s interest is only that you are behind bars,” highlighting the nationwide nature of such offences.

The bench also observed that cyber-crime networks often operate across multiple states, targeting victims from different regions while concealing their identities by means of sophisticated digital methods.

Court’s remarks come while hearing case related to investment scam

The SC was hearing a case pertaining to an alleged investment scam in which the accused is suspected of luring investors with promises of high returns before allegedly diverting and misappropriating their funds through a cyber-enabled scheme.

Surging cyber-crime threat in India rings alarm bells

The top court’s observations come at a time when India is seeing an uptick in cyber fraud cases. Investigating agencies have repeatedly warned about the growing sophistication of online scams, which continue to target common people, business operators and investors.

Some common forms of cyber fraud include fake investment schemes, phishing attacks, impersonation frauds, cryptocurrency scams, online trading frauds and so-called ‘Digital arrest’ scams. These schemes have driven humongous financial losses amounting to thousands of crores of rupees.

During the proceedings, the bench cited official data, which indicated that Indians had lost more than Rs 3,000 crore to digital frauds by the end of last year, underscoring the enormous scale of the challenge facing law enforcement agencies.

Karnataka leads the chart in cyber-crime cases

As per the latest figures obtained from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), cyber-crime cases surged by nearly 63% between 2021 and 2023, surpassing 86,000 cases registered across India. Karnataka reported the highest number of cber-crime cases, followed by Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.