Investigation of Cyber Frauds in India: Legal and Digital Forensic Challenges in the Era of UPI and Online Banking

Abstract

India's financial system has been rapidly digitised, with the ubiquitous use of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and online banking now creating unprecedented convenience for transactions, and an expanded attack surface for cyber-enabled financial crime. The paper examines the legal and digital-forensic issues that plague detection, investigation and prosecution of cyber frauds in the UPI/online-banking ecosystem. It explores the most prevalent fraud typologies, such as phishing, vishing, smishing, QR code manipulation, SIM-swap and remote-access fraud, and how this fit into the now revamped statutory framework, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the new criminal laws of 2023. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. The study examines the contribution of digital forensics in the context of admissibility of electronic evidence in the light of the certification process under Section 63 of Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam and the judicial evolution from Anvar P.V. to Shafhi Mohammad to Arjun Panditrao Khotkar. It identifies the mismatch between the pace of fraud in the UPI and the evidentiary process in criminal adjudication and argues that coordinated legal, institutional, technological and capacity building reforms by regulators, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and the banking sector are required to effectively combat cyber fraud.

Keywords: Cyber Fraud; UPI; Digital Forensics; Electronic Evidence; Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.