With the advancement of technology, crimes related to the internet, computers, or other communication devices have increased. It is getting tough to catch the perpetrators as it is easier for them to escape with the help of sophisticated technologies. Therefore, the government of India has come up with the initiative that the victim does not get further victimized, and the wrongdoer gets punished immediately.
This article will discuss what cybercrime is and its types, focusing on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal and how to report a complaint on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.
What is cybercrime?
Cybercrime is an unlawful act where people use a computer, computer network, or communication device to facilitate or commit a crime against another person or entity.
What are the types of cybercrime?
There are many types of cybercrime across the world; some of these are Child Pornography or Child Sexually Abusive Material, cyberbullying, cyberstalking, cyber grooming, online job fraud, identity theft, smshing, sexting, vishing, phishing, data breach, ransomware, virus, worms and trojans, credit/debit card fraud, sim swap scam, Denial of Service, website defacement, pharming, cyber-squatting, crypto-jacking, espionage, online drug trafficking. You can read about them in detail here Cyber Crimes in India
What is National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP)?
The Ministry of Home Affairs, the Government of India, has implemented a scheme called “Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)” to deal with cybercrimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
There are seven components of the centre, namely;
1. National Cybercrime threat Analytics Unit (TAU)
2. National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory (NCFL)
3. National Cybercrime Training Centre (NCTC)
4. Cybercrime Ecosystem Management
5. Platform for Joint Cybercrime Investigation Team
6. National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP)
7. National Cyber Research and Innovation Centre (NCR&IC)
Of these seven components, the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal plays a crucial role in dealing with all cybercrimes. It became effective from 30th August 2019. Early only Child Pornography, Rape or Gang Rape was reported on this portal; now, it has been extended to other cybercrimes, with particular attention on the cybercrime against women and children.
All the complaints reported on the portal are dealt with by their respective State or Union Territory police officers based on the information given by the complainant to take the necessary action.
What type of cybercrimes can be reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal?
On the portal, there are two options for reporting cybercrimes, namely:
Report crime related to Women/children – in this option, you can register complaints about online Child Pornography, Child Sexual Abuse Material, or sexually explicit content such as Rape or Gang-Rape content.
Report Other Cybercrimes – in this option, you can report complaints relating to cybercrimes such as online and social media crimes, mobile crimes, online financial frauds, hacking, cryptocurrency crimes, ransomware, and online cyber trafficking.
How to report cybercrime? (Step by step guide with screenshot)
Cybercrime is a very serious crime and it should not be left unreported. The Government of India has created a National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal portal. You can report your complaint either by yourself or through someone on your behalf. It is a simple and easy-to-use portal so that people do not hesitate to report the crime.
You may also report your incidents of Cyber Financial Fraud on helpline number – 1930, which is available 24*7.
Below we have explained the procedure for reporting your complaint on the portal step-by-step.
Please note all the fields marked in asterisk (*) are mandatory and should not be left empty.
Cybercrime complaints can be reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at https://www.cybercrime.gov.in/
1) Click the “File a complaint” tab >> You will be directed to the next page, suggesting you look at various FAQs before filing the complaint. On this page, you acknowledge that the information given by you is correct and that the complaint is not false. Then, click the “I Accept” tab.
2) You need to Log In to lodge your complaint by entering the following details, namely;
Name of state, email address, mobile number, and OTP you received on your mobile number; then, enter the Captcha code given and click the “Submit” tab.
3) You will be directed to the “User Profile Details” page where you will be required to fill in all required details such as your Login Id, Title, Name, Mobile Number, etc. your Present Address, then click on “Save & Continue” tab.
4) Now, you will be directed to the “Complaint/Incident Details” page, here, you have to select the Category of complaint like Child Pornography, Child Sexual Abuse Material, Rape Gang Rape, etc.
· Give the approximate date and time of incident/viewing of the content and whether there was any delay in reporting the crime,
· You also have an option to provide the place of occurrence of a crime, select the correct option from the categories given in the dropdown button namely; social media platform (like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok etc.) or messaging platform (like Hike, WhatsApp, etc.), or any other website, URL, email, etc. where the content was shared or seen and click ADD tab.
· There is also an option to upload evidence where you can share a link to Child Pornography, Child Sexual Abuse Material, Rape Gang Rape content, or Obscene content plus upload artifacts (such as videos, images, PDFs, documents, etc.) and
· description of any additional details about the complaint, incident, and evidence uploaded in a maximum of 1500 characters now; click the “Save as Draft & Next” tab.
5) The next page you are directed to is “Suspect Details”. All the information is confidential and will be used for investigations only. Fill in all the details of the suspect, their name, address, ID Number (like Driving License, PAN Card, Voter ID, etc.), and photograph; Click ADD and submit all the details that you have selected, then click on “Save as Draft & Next” tab
6) Up next, you will be directed to the “Complainant Details” page where you will be required to enter the complainant’s details like Gender, DOB, Father,/Mother/Spouse Name and state the relationship with the victim, give the email address of any further communication. Upload the victim’s national ID (like PAN Card, Voter ID, Driving License, etc.), provide the address details, and click the “Save & Preview” tab.
7) Fill in the details and click on the “Preview and Submit” tab, check all the details and click on the “Confirm & Submit” tab to submit the complaint. You can even click “Reset” to edit the details provided.
8) Once all the details are filled up, the complainant gets a Compliant ID number. Finally, you can download the PDF copy of the complaint registered.
9) Lastly, the complainant will receive an email and SMS along with the Complaint ID number with an acknowledgement that the complaint is registered at the portal.
How can you report cybercrime anonymously?
If you do not wish to reveal your identity, there is an option called “Report Anonymously”. You can file your complaint related to Child Pornography, Child Sexual Abuse Material, Sexually Abusive Content, Sexually Explicit Content, and Rape Gang Rape only.
However, to register the complaint, the complainant must share their location or place where the crime occurred compulsorily.
Next, you can upload the evidence in the form of an image, documents, PDF, video, etc., or upload a link to Rape Gang Rape or Child Pornography content.
Lastly, you can briefly describe all the necessary details about the complaint in the Description Column.
How can you Track your complaints on the portal?
You can track your complaint by using the “Report & Track” option available on the portal.
Once you use the Report & Track option to register your complaint, you will be required to submit all the necessary information, such as your name, email address, mobile number, details about the incident and complaint and other information supporting the complaint.
After registering your complaint under Report & Track option, you will be assigned a Complaint ID on your registered email address and mobile number. This Complaint ID can be used to track the record of your complaint on the portal.
You can quickly get updates about the complaint or action taken by the police officer and the status of the complaint updated by the nodal cyber cell officer of the state to the cyber police application.
Conclusion
National Cybercrime Reporting Portal is an online platform where you can file a complaint relating to all types of cybercrimes, focusing on woman/child-related abuse. Once the complaint is registered on the portal, the investigation officers take immediate action and start investigating the matter. The portal has helped many people to file their complaints easily and reduced the rate of cybercrimes in India. Therefore, as responsible citizens, we should use the technologies wisely and help the government curb crime by reporting them without any delay.
