THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The collective loot from Kerala by cybercriminals over the past three years has exceeded Rs 10 billion, data with the police revealed. Fraudsters swindled Rs 1,021 crore between 2022 and 2024, of which Rs 763 crore was siphoned off last year. While Keralites lost Rs 48 crore to cyber fraud in 2022, the amount rose to Rs 210 crore in 2023.
A total of 41,426 complaints were registered in 2024, which roughly implies that as many people lost money to various cyber fraud activities.
At Rs 174 crore, Ernakulam topped the districts in terms of money lost in 2024, followed by Thiruvananthapuram with a loss of Rs 114 crore. Wayanad was the least affected at Rs 9.2 crore.
Of the total amount lost since 2022, around Rs 149 crore has been recovered. Most of the recovery was made in 2024. During this period, the cops froze 76,000 fraudulent transactions and recovered Rs 107.44 crore. The recoveries made in 2022 and 2023 amounted to Rs 4.38 crore and Rs 37.16 crore, respectively.
According to the victims’ demographics prepared by the cyber investigation division in 2024, one-fifth of the victims were employees of private companies (19.5 %), followed by pensioners (10.9 %), homemakers (10.37 %) and businessmen (10.25 %). Job scams preyed on the highest number of victims (35.34 %), followed by online trading fraud (34.96%), Fedex-type scam (7.17%) and loan scams (3.36 %).
Last year, the cyber cops blacklisted nearly 50,000 smartphones/devices that were used for scamming. About 19,000 SIM cards, 31,000 websites and 23,000 social media accounts were also blocked after their involvement in cyber financial crimes were exposed. The surge in digital financial crimes had earlier prompted the state police chief to write to the Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking certain policy changes and technological intervention to curb the menace.
‘Vigil on the part of public key in curbing menace’
State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb had recommended reining in the unfettered use of current accounts of Indian banks from other countries. He had also sought a restriction on the number of electronic devices, using which digital transactions can be done from an account. Saheb also suggested preparing credibility scores for each bank account, which will help users verify their trustworthiness before carrying out transactions.
A senior police officer said vigilance from the part of the public goes a long way in curbing the menace.
“A dip in cyber financial crime rate was observed in recent times after the police intensified awareness drives to sensitise the public about the matter,” the officer said.
“The telecom operators have started broadcasting cyber crime awareness caller tunes to the subscribers on a daily basis and that seems to have an effect.
People are getting acquainted with the message and it seems they are becoming alert to scam calls. Those who fall prey to the scam calls should immediately call 1930 and register their complaint. Only a coordinated effort of the public and the enforcement agencies can purge cyber financial crimes,” the officer added.
Amount swindled in 2024
Ernakulam - Rs 174 crore
T’Puram - Rs 114.9 crore
Thrissur - Rs 85.74 crore
Kozhikode - Rs 60 crore
Malappuram - Rs 52.5 crore
Kannur - Rs 47.74 crore
Palakkad - Rs 46 crore
Kollam - Rs 40.78 crore
Alappuzha - Rs 39 crore
Kottayam - Rs 35.67 crore
Pathanamthitta - Rs 24 crore
Kasaragod - Rs 17.63 crore
Idukki - Rs 15.23 crore
Wayanad - Rs 9 crore