Bhopal: City residents have fallen victim to cybercrime far more this year due to unfounded fears, greed and vulnerabilities, all of which have been exploited hand in hand by armed cybercriminals in investment frauds, task and call scams and digital fakes. arrests to grab people’s pockets and minds.
Bhopal has seen a worrying rise in financial losses due to cybercrime in 2024, with the amount of money siphoned off by cybercriminals from city residents increasing by around 142% in the first ten months of the year compared to the same period in 2023. According to data from the Bhopal cybercrime branch, a whopping sum of Rs 53.35 crore was lost due to cybercriminal activities from January to October 2024. 5,225 cybercrime complaints were reported.
While cybercrime complaints increased by about 4 percent, senior officers highlighted the much more drastic increase in monetary losses, noting that the value of cybercrime losses far exceeded the losses reported in cybercrime cases. property crimes in the city this year.
This trend highlights the evolving tactics and growing financial cost of cybercriminal activities in Bhopal.
This year, the cybercrime branch arrested 90 cybercriminals from various parts of the country till October, while 55 cybercriminals were arrested last year during the same period.
The Cyber-Crime Branch successfully froze/refunded Rs 84 lakh from the bank accounts of cybercriminals to victims of cybercrime. Last year, the freeze/refund amount of Rs 80 lakh was returned to victims of cybercrime.
Reluctance and delay in registering files
Despite the increase in cybercrime complaints, only 55 cybercrime FIRs have been registered by the Cybercrime Directorate this year in 2024 till October 31, compared to 39 cybercrime FIRs registered during the same period in 2023. Staff of the city ​​police station are simply reluctant to register cases of cybercrime.
They send cybercrime victims who approach them to the Cybercrime Department, where they file their complaints and wait endlessly for them to be registered. Cybercrime police officers themselves admit that investigating cybercrimes is a difficult task and requires a lot of effort and resources.
Multiple stakeholders including banks, telecom companies, payment gateways, social media companies, online retail companies and others are involved, and coordinating with them is a difficult task.
The police constantly pursue traces of criminals’ money
A senior cybercrime official said that these online fraudsters operate under organized rackets. They make the money trail so complex that it becomes impossible for the police to trace it completely.
Even if the police register the cases, they only arrest the providers of the bank accounts through which the money was transferred, which in most cases are taken on a commission basis. The real fraudsters are rarely caught and the money is siphoned out of the country. Cybercriminals based far away, in different cities or foreign countries, operate in their comfort zone, which makes it difficult for the police to trace them. Visiting different cities is not only difficult for police teams, but also financially unviable. Often, investigation teams have to pay money out of their own pockets during the investigation. With limited personnel and resources, the police are trying to focus on organized rackets involved in cybercrime.
Cybercrime represents a significant challenge for law enforcement
To combat the growing menace of cybercrime, Bhopal Police Commissioner Harinarayanchari Mishra recently convened a meeting with the heads of all public and private sector banks in the city around three months ago. It was discussed that cybercrime has become a significant challenge for law enforcement.
This not only poses a challenge to the police, but also makes it easier for criminals to steal hard-earned money from the public.
Statistics show that the number of cybercrime cases far exceeds other types of fraud and theft.
During the meeting, Commissioner Mishra highlighted the importance of banks securing their systems and informing their customers about the latest cyber threats in the city.
He stressed the need for banks to regularly update their security protocols and ensure customer data protection.