During the lockdown throughout the country in 2020 & some places in 2021, cyber crimes has increased in great amount. The cyber crime attack has targeted people’s personal data. It was reported that India was among the top 5 most targeted nations by cyber criminals in world. According to Lt. Gen. Rajesh Pant, who is the National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) for India told that cyber criminals had launched thousands of “fraud portals” related to the coronavirus. Some of the sites had lured the citizens to contribute to fight the deadly virus and make donations. Ever since the Prime Minister announced that the funds would be contributed to ‘PM CARES FUND’ since then a half dozen fake versions of the site have emergedand have successfully solicited thousands of dollars from unsuspecting individuals. Owing to the pandemic, personal data was the top attraction during the lockdown. The so-called “coronavirus malware” is aimed at stealing bank account details, password and other sensitive information from users[1]. A hacking group supported by Pakistan perpetrated a series of ransomware and phishing attacks aimed at stealing highly sensitive defense, security and diplomatic information under the guise of coronavirus health advisories[2].
Not just this, there were even reports that an unidentified cybercriminal attempted to sell the Statue of Unity and alleged that the proceeds would be sent to the government of Gujarat & help in fighting the pandemic. Kerala became the highest to record in cyber crime in 2020. During that period, the users were manipulated to visit the links automatically download malware on the host computer such as the Agent Tesla keylogger or Lokibot information-stealing malware, infamous banking Trojans such as Trickbot or Zeus Sphinx, and even disastrous ransomware[3]. People have been reported for using hate speech on social media along with giving it a political as well as communal angle. People created fake government websites providing jobs to doctors and nurses for Covid patients. Then there were people selling sanitisers, PPE kits and food on fake websites.
Crimes such as theft, snatching, robbery may have stopped due to the lockdown but a criminal does not stop from committing the crime no matter what the situation is. In a shocking news amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, a 53-year-old visually impaired woman was allegedly raped by an unidentified person in Madhya Pradesh. The woman was living alone as her husband was stuck in his hometown when the incident took place. In spite of the lockdown, people had found ways to commit crimes. It was shocking to know that many of the crimes which were committed were due to unemployment which was the cause of lockdown and pandemic. In a shocking news, unemployment due to the covid-19 pushed many people specially the youth to commit crimes for the survival of their families.
Cases of “sextortion” had increased during the lockdown by tampering with the photos of woman and later blackmailing them. Perhaps the most glitzy crime would be the series of raids that took place in Bollywood concerning a racket of illegal drug consumption where a lot of big names came out. People were glued to their television screens surfing news channels after coming to know the shocking death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. WhatsApp chats became the talk of the nation as several bollywood were accused of buying and consuming drugs. The Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, some employees of the late film star, Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Rakulpreet Singh and Arjun Rampal as well as director, producer Karan Johar under the NDPS Act.
In conclusion, I would like to say that lockdown in the initial phrase may have reduced some crimes such as theft, robbery etc but as the lockdown started to increase due to the rising covid cases, crimes also started to increase. Cases of martial rape, murder of husband/wife after the game of ludo, killing of own child/selling them because of financial crisis. Even in 2021, some states/cities in India are in lockdown and the crimes have not stopped. I see no end to crimes in India as long as there are strong laws to punish the criminals.
[1] Ronak D. Desai-Cybercrime In India Surges Amidst Coronavirus Lockdown, Cybercrime In India Surges Amidst Coronavirus Lockdown (forbes.com), visited on 15-06-2021 at 16:49hrs.
[2] IBID.
[3] Kerala records highest number of cybercrimes during lockdown – The Economic Times (indiatimes.com), visited on 15-06-2021 at 17:43hrs.
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