Tracing the money trail by sharing information with ED will now get easy
Strictness on cyber fraud: The Revenue Department of the Finance Ministry issued a notification on April 25 stating that I4C has now been included under Section 66 of PMLA. This means that now it will be easy to share information between I4C and ED
The government has made a significant move to control cyber crime. Now Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) is authorized to share information with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), a tough money laundering law.
I4C, which was set up under the Ministry of Home Affairs, was appointed as the nodal agency responsible for controlling cybercrime in the country. Its primary goal is to promote enhanced coordination amongst the various law enforcing agencies as well as other stakeholders and enhancing India's capabilities to tackle cybercrime.
The Finance Ministry's Revenue Department issued a notification dated April 25, according to which I4C has been placed under the ambit of the provisions of PMLA under Section 66. Under this, there will be ease of sharing data with I4C and the ED, which will assist in tracking the money trail as well as catching up with the masterminds of online fraud.
This move of the government is considered very important amid the rapidly increasing cyber fraud cases. Nowadays, thugs are targeting common people through fake websites, fake social media pages, and misleading advertisements on search engines. Apart from this, they trap people by sending OTP or a web link on mobile or email. As soon as a person carelessly clicks on the link or shares the OTP, their phone or computer gets hacked.
The government has appealed to the public that if anyone sees any suspicious website or case of online fraud, then immediately report it on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) or call the helpline number 1930.
