Home › Practice Areas › Cyber Crime & Cyber Fraud

Cyber Crime & Cyber Fraud

Online fraud, financial cyber crime, data and identity misuse, and proceedings under the Information Technology Act.

Other areas

Overview

Cyber matters combine urgency with an evidentiary problem: the money moves quickly and the proof is electronic. Early action matters more here than in almost any other area, because the window for freezing funds and preserving digital records is short. The chamber advises both those defrauded and those facing allegations.

Matters ordinarily handled

  • Online financial fraud, UPI and banking fraud complaints
  • Complaints to the cyber crime cell and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal
  • Offences under the Information Technology Act, 2000
  • Data theft, identity misuse and impersonation
  • Defamation, harassment and objectionable content online
  • Defence in cyber crime prosecutions
  • Advisory on electronic evidence and its admissibility

How a matter usually proceeds

  1. Immediate steps to report and, where possible, freeze the transaction
  2. Preservation of electronic evidence in an admissible form
  3. Complaint to the cyber cell or the appropriate authority
  4. Follow-up with banks, intermediaries and the investigating agency
  5. Proceedings before the Magistrate or the appropriate forum
  6. Writ or appellate remedies where the matter requires them

This is the ordinary course. Any particular matter may take a different one.

Questions clients ask

I have been defrauded online. What is the first thing to do?
Report it immediately — to the bank and on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal — because the prospect of recovering funds falls sharply with time. Preserve every message and record without editing it.
Are screenshots accepted as evidence?
Electronic records are admissible, but they must be produced in the form the law requires. How the material is preserved at the outset often decides whether it can be used later.
Can something posted about me online be taken down?
Depending on the content, remedies exist against the person responsible and against the intermediary hosting it. The appropriate route depends on the material and the platform.