what is cyber crime and its types in details - Digital Sudhir

Today I am going to highlight one of the most imitated crimes around the world, to bring to your notice, I am talking About cybercrime. In this era, we all are the slaves of technology but not everyone is aware of what cybercrime is. So today I will introduce you to the world of cybercrime. To define cybercrime, cybercrime is an illegal activity that is carried out with the help of a computer and the internet, and the people who commit it are referred to as cyber criminals. The first ever recorded cybercrime in India took place in the year 1999.

Today we are living in a digital era where every house has gadgets there is a huge usage of the internet. Technology is a blessing on the contrary technology encourages criminals and hence crime is committed with the assistance of our modern gadgets, including computer laptops, mobile phones, etc.

Cyber Crimes 

 why is cybercrime increasing so rapidly?

 According to the crime record of 2020, it is indicated that cybercrimes have increased by 306% in the last four years, and there are enormous non-reported crimes.

Cybercriminals often peek into our personal space, computers, mobiles, and laptops and steal our data, and privacy leading to crime.

Now the question that arises is why is cybercrime increasing so rapidly!!! These days we are switching to the digital stage where everything is done digitally whether it is paying bills or shopping,, everything is done digitally, these days we have youngsters who call themselves tech gurus, but we never know who is watching us, when, where, and how!!!!!

Easy financial gain is the main reason why cybercrime is taking place, there are various types of cybercrime taking place and almost every third person turns out to become its victim. Cybercrime and scams are rapidly taking place.

Enormous scams and crimes are reported each day and many more never come to the scene.

Online Shopping scams, phishing scams, lottery scams, job and employment scams, matrimonial scams, and many more. 

All these scams are a part of cybercrime, one of the most trending scams I have come across is the KBC lottery scam and online friendship scam,  these scams are taking place globally where people are looted on a daily basis resulting in huge losses of personal data, capital, and even suicides

Not everything over the internet is genuine but we are so blindfolded that everyone wants cheaper versions of their likes, there are enormous websites created that claim to sell cheap goods hence attracting greedy humans resulting in being cheated and looted.

Pornography, cyber theft, piracy, cyberstalking, plagiarism, identity theft, online gambling, and cyber laundering, these are some terms we come across while talking about all those crimes taking place over the internet.

Morphing is a very common cybercrime that takes place against women, in simple words, morphing is a process of editing somebody’s original picture by an unauthorized user and then uploading over various sites online.

There are a number of romance scams taking place, and we need to understand that we cannot shop for love online.

We often fall into greed and end up being the victim of so-called crime and scams.

It has become very easy for scammers to find their target since a large number of people are using digital modes these days, I am not telling them to stop being digital but being careful is a must factor.

Some motives behind cybercrime are monetary profit, Political profit, sexual impulses, and entertainment. 

Facebook and WhatsApp friendship scams are very common these days, the reason for the growth of these scams is that most of the cyber crimes and scams remain reported due to hesitation and shyness of the victim and the fear of defamation, women’s and teenagers are more prone to the danger of cybercrime as the perpetrator's identity remain anonymous and they are continuously blackmailed with different names and identity.

Unemployment is also another factor leading to the hike in cybercriminals.

There has been a drastic hike in the percentage of women being the victim of cyber-attacks and scams, women have turned out to become the soft target for cyber attackers, out of 10 women, I spoke to 9 women mentioned that cyber attack is something very unpleasant thing that has ever happened to them.

According to the National Commission of Women, it was stated that cyber crime against women was at its peak during the pandemic. 

Recently, there was a web of instant loan apps most with Chinese apps which promised to provide you with a Loan without any documentation, this gave agreed people to get easy loans without any documentation, and many people were attracted to it, but these loans resulted in huge interest and extortion of people when they were unable to pay the money back.

According to the report of 2022there were 2.2 million reported victims, according to a study given by IIT Kanpur incubated startup about 75% of cybercrime took place in the country between 20 22 June 2023 and so on. Nearly 50% of the cases were related to UPI and internet banking. Not only this country India ranks second in terms of cybercrime and scams after the US. Every day our news headlines are flooded with news of scams and Frauds taking place in different corners.

How to prevent cyber crime

We understand it is an ongoing threat and will take a really long to put a full stop to these crimes, such crimes will continue to evolve with new threats, and one might be tempted to stop using the internet which may be too drastic, but we should never fail to take some crucial steps to avoid such crimes.

We should know how to protect ourselves and our data online, people making the use of internet in various ways should always take some important precautions in order to protect themselves.

If possible, always use an internet security suite like Norton, 360, and always make a use of strong password, learn to recognize fake pages over social media and other sites, never share your photographs with unknown people, and never share your personal information over the social media and be very careful while choosing friends.

Always look out for suspicious mail links and download and never open them.

Never forget to update your antivirus software on a regular basis and never open attachments in your spam folder. if you come across any person whether it may be male or female over social media like Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp never share your personal details and photographs. You never know who is on the other side waiting to scam you, always remember, nothing is free in this world and there is nobody sitting on the other side to provide you free gifts and stuff.

If you feel you or somebody near, you are being trapped becoming the victim of cyber attacks and scams The first thing you can do is reach out to the national cyber crime reporting portal and register a complaint, visit your nearest police station, the sooner you report it the authorities can get time to recover your money sooner, always educate your family members and your friends about this scams and cyber attacks, so that they can remain safe and they can know what to do if they are one of the victims.

We Are so much into the internet that it is quite impossible to detach yourself from it, but better precautions lead to better lives. With more information we share we hope to create a no-scam zone.

Last but not least, stay safe and help others stay safe, let us contribute our minute in educating people about cybercrime and create a No scam zone for everyone.

Welcome to My Blog

Hey everyone, My Name is Urmila Mehta

I am a cyber crimes enthusiast and researcher.