Just nine months saw the loss of Rs 11,333 crore in India 

According to data gathered by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), a branch of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), cyber fraud cost India almost Rs 11,333 crore in the first nine months of 2024.

Scams involving stock trading made up the greatest portion, with 2,28,094 complaints and losses of Rs 4,636 crore. Rs 1,616 crore was lost to “digital arrest” frauds across 63,481 complaints, while Rs 3,216 crore was lost to investment-based scams from 1,00,360 complaints.

According to data from the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS), around 12 lakh cyber fraud complaints were filed in 2024, with Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos accounting for 45% of these complaints. The CFCFRMS has received 30.05 lakh complaints since 2021, resulting in ₹27,914 crore in losses. Five,14,741 of them were filed in 2022, 1,35,242 in 2021, and 11,31,221 in 2023.

Data from the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) indicates that over 12 lakh cyber fraud complaints were submitted in 2024, with 45% of those complaints coming from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. Since 2021, the CFCFRMS has received 30.05 lakh complaints, resulting in losses of ₹27,914 crore. In 2022, 5,14,741 of them were submitted; in 2021, 1,35,242; and in 2023, 11,31,221.

According to a study of cybercrimes this year, e-wallets, ATMs, merchant payments, fintech cryptocurrency, checks, and central bank digital currency (CBDC) are frequently used to extract stolen funds. Approximately 4.5 lakh mule bank accounts, which are commonly used to launder the proceeds of cybercrime, have been blocked by the I4C in the last 12 months.

The secrecy of digital wallets, international money exchanges, the absence of KYC procedures, VPN access, and cryptocurrency scams coming from overseas are some of the issues that the I4C highlighted at a recent anti-terror conference as obstacles that investigators encounter while looking into cyber fraud cases. As part of measures to disrupt offshore criminal networks and bolster India’s digital security, the I4C has also disabled 17,000 WhatsApp accounts connected to cybercriminals operating out of Southeast Asia in partnership with the telecom ministry.