Cyber Fraud Alert 2024: India Endures Rs 11,333 Cr Loss in 9 Months to Cyber Crimes

New Delhi: The cyber scams have been turning into giant threats to the Indians, who lost a humongous sum amounting to around Rs 11,333 crore to cyber fraudsters in the first nine months of 2024. According to a recent report, stock trading frauds topped the list of scams in terms of monetary loss, followed by investment frauds. The impact can be understood with the fact that the investment fraud itself endured a loss of Rs 3,216 crore prompting over 1 lakh victims to file their complaints.

Importantly, the cases of the most discussed form of cyber fraud, also known as digital arrest, have seen an upsurge in the recent past resulting in a loss of Rs 1,616 crore, from as many as 63,481 victims, who filed their complaints, reports, quoting the Home Ministry’s Indian Cyber Crime Coordination, suggested.

Nearly 12 Lakh Cyber Scam Complaints Received in 9 Months This Year

As per the data from the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS), nearly 12 lakh cyber scam complaints were received this year, with a majority of them (45 per cent) coming from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos.

The CFCFRMS has reportedly received 30.05 lakh complaints since 2021, which amount to losses of Rs 27,914 crore. Of these 30 lakh complaints, 11,31,221 were from 2023, 5,14,741 from 2022, and 1,35,242 from 2021.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation through his ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio program, talked about the increasing threat of Digital arrest and cyber crimes and alerted people against such frauds. Warning people against Digital arrest scams, PM Modi alerted the people saying, that no government agencies threaten people over the phone and demand money.

In his address to the nation, through ‘Mann ki Baat’, PM Modi explained the digital arrest modus operandi and said, "Under digital arrest fraud, callers portray themselves as police, CBI, RBI or narcotics officials, and they confidently talk. People asked me to talk about this in Mann Ki Baat. You need to understand this. The first step is your personal information. They collect all your personal information.”

“The second step is the atmosphere of fear. They will scare you so much that you won’t even be able to think and the third step is the time pressure. Victims of digital arrest are from all sections and ages," PM Modi emphasized, adding that there is a three-step digital security in such cases - "stop, think, and take action".

Amid a massive increase in the cases of cyber-related crimes including digital arrest, investment scams and other cyber frauds, the central government and concerned law-enforcement agencies are taking steps to cure such crimes and bring them under control. However, the government also advised the common people to remain alert to any suspicious calls, messages and lures by unknown people and numbers.