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Cyber Fraud & Cryptocurrency Disputes

Cyber frauds, including online scams, hacking, identity theft, and financial fraud, are regulated under the following laws:

Section 43: Penalty for unauthorized access to a computer system, downloading data without permission, or introducing viruses.
Section 66: Hacking and identity theft—punishable with imprisonment up to 3 years and a fine.
Section 66C: Punishment for identity theft (e.g., using stolen passwords, Aadhaar numbers, etc.).
Section 66D: Punishment for cheating by personation using a computer resource.
Section 67: Publishing or transmitting obscene content in electronic form.
Section 72A: Punishment for disclosure of information in breach of a lawful contract.

Section 415 & 420: Cheating and fraud (including online scams)—punishable with up to 7 years of imprisonment and a fine.
Section 468 & 471: Forgery of electronic documents—punishable with up to 7 years of imprisonment.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Guidelines: Banks must ensure customer protection in cases of unauthorized transactions.
Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002: Applied in cyber financial frauds linked to money laundering.

India has no comprehensive law specifically regulating cryptocurrencies, but the following legal developments are relevant:

In 2018, the RBI banned banks from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions, but this was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2020.

The RBI still does not recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender but allows trading through exchanges.

Since March 2023, crypto exchanges in India must comply with PMLA regulations and report suspicious transactions.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) monitors Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and fraudulent crypto schemes.

Used in cases of crypto fraud or misleading investment schemes.