Cybercriminals and hackers siphoned off at least a whopping Rs 465 crore from people across Karnataka in 2023 alone, i.e., an average of Rs 1.27 crore per day, according to the latest data from the Criminal Investigation Department.
Investigators foresee a “colossal” rise in new-age cybercrimes in the current year as fraudsters upgrade their game and adopt new ways to cheat.
The total money lost to cybercrimes in 2023 rose by a staggering 151% year-on-year and by 450% compared to 2021.
Cybercrooks pocketed Rs 185 crore in 2022 and Rs 84 crore in 2021.
Karnataka last year reported 21,868 cybercrime cases. Bengaluru alone reported 17,623 of them.
The most common money-spinning crimes were phishing, FedEx scams, investment and task completion frauds, according to MA Saleem, Director General of Police, CID, Special Units and Economic Offences.
Police officers privy to cybercrime investigations last year say OTP and phishing frauds dominated the first few months of 2023 but as the year wound down, FedEx, investment and task completion frauds, and Aadhaar-enabled payment scams took hold. At the same time, many victims fell prey to sextortion, loan app harassment and counterfeit websites.
While Bengaluru reported a lion’s share of cybercrimes, senior police officers believe the extent of cybercrimes in the state’s small towns and villages is grossly under-reported because many victims do not file complaints.
For example, Hassan reported just 100-150 cybercrimes and Tumakuru 250-300.
Ashok KV, Superintendent of Police, Tumakuru, says most victims in rural areas are either unaware that they can file complaints in such cases or simply don’t realise the fraud.
“In some cases, they lose small amounts of money and just let it go,” Ashok said, adding that the police are holding awareness programmes to educate people about the different types of cybercrimes.
Hassan SP, Mohammed Sujeetha MS, notes that in Hassan, most cases are filed at town police stations, mostly by people having connections in Bengaluru. Two months ago, Hassan police launched an initiative called ‘Tereda Mane’ to bring police and people together and raise awareness about crimes. “We need to reach every last person but that’s a long way to go,” she said.
Another senior officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said young adults from rural areas hesitate to inform their elders and approach the police despite falling prey to cyber scams, especially if it’s of a sexual nature.
Bengaluru North Deputy Commissioner of Police Saidulu Adavath, under whose watch police cracked the first-ever FedEx scam, pointed to the large number of mule accounts being operated from rural areas in Karnataka.
“We arrested four people in Davangere who had lent their identity documents for creating mule accounts that were eventually used to carry out the scams. They were lured with government schemes. People in rural areas are prone to creating mule accounts. It’s a trend,” he said.
Speaking at a recent conclave on cybercrimes, C Vamsi Krishna, DIGP, CID, noted that cybercriminals are increasingly using Malware as a Service (MaaS). He also believes AI can be used to carry out cybercrimes through malware.
Another senior officer from the CID said fake websites had mushroomed all over the internet to carry out cybercrimes. “These websites have typos in their name but look legit. Cyber fraudsters use them to siphon off money from people booking travel tickets,” the officer said.
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