India lost over ₹11,000 crore to cyber scams in first 9 months of 2024: Report

The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System reportedly received 30.05 lakh cyber fraud complaints since 2021.

India has endured a loss of around ₹11,333 crore to cyber scams in the first nine months of 2024, said a recent report. Stock trading frauds topped the list of scams in terms of the amount of money lost. This was followed by investment frauds, which resulted in a loss of ₹3,216 crore from more than 1 lakh complaints.

Stock trading frauds caused the maximum amount of loss, ₹4,636 crore from over 2 lakh complaints. (Representative Image)

Meanwhile, cases of digital arrests, which authorities have seen an uptick in, caused a loss of ₹1,616 crore from around 63,481 complaints, The Indian Express reported citing data from Home Ministry's Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) division. HT can't independently verify the accuracy of the report.

Citing data from the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, The Indian Express reported that 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 ₹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.

In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned the nation about 'digital arrest' during his 'Mann ki Baat' radio program. He said that no government agencies threaten people over the phone and demand money.

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. 2nd Step is the atmosphere of fear. They will scare you so much that you won’t even be able to think. Step 3- The time pressure…Victims of digital arrest are from all sections and ages."

He said that there is a three-step digital security in such cases - "stop, think, and take action".

There has been a notable rise in digital arrest, investment and cyber-related scams, which often lure people in the name of 'beneficial schemes' and defraud them of huge sums of money.