Finance Ministry Includes 14C under PMLA for Information Sharing
To detect cases of money trail and tackle cyber frauds, the Government has authorised Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (14C) to share and receive information from the Enforcement Directorate under the anti-money laundering law. Established under the Home Ministry, 14C is envisaged to act as the nodal point to lower the incidents of cybercrime in the country. 14C focuses on enhancing coordination between various law enforcement agencies and the stakeholders, driving change in India’s overall capability to tackle cybercrime.
In the notification dated April 25, the Revenue Department under the Finance Ministry included 14C under Section 66 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This would help 14C to share and receive information from the ED and other law enforcement agencies.
Amid rapidly growing instances of cyber frauds targeting common man, this information sharing would help identify the masterminds behind such frauds which are mainly trans-national.
Such online frauds are being committed through fake websites, social media pages and paid advertisements on search engines. The fraudsters also take help of sending OTP or malicious weblink on an individual’s phone or email and when any phone or mail user shares OTP or clicks on the link, their phone or computer gets hacked through which the sensitive information is stolen by the fraudsters or scammers.
To reduce such incidents, the government has urged the public to report such websites online on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in or to call on 1930 in case of fraudulent activities.
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