While speaking at an event on types of Cyber Crime and legal remedies, an audience member shared a thought provoking perspective:
“Cybercriminals are particularly dangerous criminal because there is no human angle involved”
His words are still fresh in my mind.
When people think of crime, the image is often of a burglar breaking into a house or a pickpocket stealing a wallet. Strangely enough, history and psychology show us that even a traditional thief may sometimes display a sense of mercy. In moments of human contact — when a victim pleads or when compassion stirs — a thief may hesitate or even walk away.
But the cyber criminal operates with an entirely different mindset.
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- A cyber fraudster does not see a human being; they see data, account balances, and numbers on a screen.
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- There is no crying child in front of them, no elderly victim pleading for their hard-earned money, no face-to-face confrontation.
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- This distance from the human element makes cybercrime uniquely cruel.
A single click can wipe out a family’s savings, destroy a student’s academic future, or exploit the trust of a senior citizen. And yet, the cyber offender feels nothing — because the victim is invisible.
This is why, I often explain to clients and colleagues that cybercrime is not just theft — it is theft without mercy.
Unlike the traditional thief, the cybercriminal thrives on anonymity, indifference, and often operates across borders. This makes enforcement more complex, and punishment must therefore be sharper.
Awareness is the key. Prevention is better than cure when it comes to cyber crime. There should be more and more awareness events on cyber crime. I hope for a day will come when a news of an elderly couple duped of Crores by cyber criminals becomes a thing of past.
Cybercrime is not just theft-it is theft without mercy.
A Cyber Criminal might be reciting these lines by Anand Narayan Mulla
वो कौन हैं जिन्हें तौबा की मिल गई फ़ुर्सत
हमें गुनाह भी करने को ज़िंदगी कम है