The Role of Android Applications in Cybercrime in India

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Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-09-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22829287
Primary Topic
Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

The Role of Android Applications in Cybercrime in India

Ashok Kumar
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
article

The Role of Android Applications in Cybercrime in India

Ashok Kumar
article en

Abstract

The Role of Android Applications in Cybercrime in India Ashok Kumar* Android applications have emerged as the principal vector for cybercrime in India, driven by the country’s near-universal Android adoption, an open sideloading ecosystem, and the rapid expansion of digital financial services among users with limited digital literacy. This article examines the principal modalities through which Android applications are weaponised for criminal purposes: predatory lending applications that harvest contact lists and photo galleries to enable extortion and blackmail; banking trojans and impersonation malware that abuse Accessibility Services to intercept credentials; fraudulent investment and trading platforms; UPI-linked remote-access fraud; covert spyware; and, increasingly, generative-AI-enabled impersonation schemes such as "digital arrest" fraud. Drawing on official data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Reserve Bank of India, the article documents the scale of this problem, noting the more than fourfold rise in reported complaints between 2021 and 2024 and annual financial losses now exceeding ₹22,000 crore. It then situates this conduct within India’s existing legal architecture, analysing the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Sections 43, 66, 66C, 66D, 43A, and 69A), the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Reserve Bank of India’s Digital Lending Directions, alongside platform-level measures adopted by Google. Using the Enforcement Directorate’s multi-year investigation into Chinese-linked loan applications — including the Cashbean/PC Financial Services case and the raids on Razorpay, Cashfree, and Paytm — as an extended case study, the article argues that effective enforcement against app-based financial crime depends as much on money-laundering and foreign-exchange law as on information-technology legislation, since fraudulent applications can be rebranded and relaunched faster than blocking orders can be secured. The article concludes by identifying persistent structural constraints — sideloaded distribution, cross-border operation, resource limitations, and the accelerating pace of AI-enabled fraud — that continue to limit the reach of India’s regulatory and enforcement response. *Assistant Professor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Legal Studies, C.S.J.M. University, Kanpur

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University (IN)
Quality Education
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
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