Bhopal
The expansion of the digital world has given a new illusion of fraud in the hands of criminals. Now thugs do not take the risk of meeting you in disguise. They bait through internet media, e-mail and smartphone apps and drain your account with one click.
How dire the situation is can be gauged from the fact that out of all the FIRs filed this year in Bhopal police stations alone, 27% were on complaints of cyber fraud only. Till November 15 this year, 14 thousand 454 criminal cases have been registered in 34 police stations of the capital.
Online fraud accounts for 27% of total crimes
At the same time, 5,463 cases have been registered in the cyber crime cell alone during this period. This is 27% of total crimes. This is the situation when not every cyber crime reaches the police station. Police officials say that out of more than 14 thousand cases registered this year, only around one thousand are cases of financial crimes like theft, cheating, snatching, pickpocketing.
But, out of more than five thousand cases that have been reported to the cyber crime cell, in four thousand cases money has been withdrawn from the accounts of the victims. Compared to financial crimes like theft, fraud and snatching, cyber thugs have stolen hundreds of times more money.
You can imagine how fast this fraud has increased that in 2019, 2,792 FIRs were registered in Bhopal, in which there were details of fraud worth Rs 1 crore 48 lakh. In just 10 months of this year, five thousand 491 cases have been registered, in which fraud of Rs 55 crore 88 lakh has taken place. The amount defrauded this year is 3800% more than that of 2019.
The swindlers cheated in these ways
Had placed an ad for selling bike on OLX. A person expressed his desire to buy a bike by sending a message. He asked for payment over phone before coming to collect the bike the next day. He sent two rupees to my account through Paytm. After this an amount of Rs 50 thousand was sent. Also asked me to enter PIN to accept payment. When I entered the PIN, the money disappeared from the account. It turned out that he had not sent me the money, but had sent a request for payment. -Ravi Dubey, railway employee
Had downloaded the trading app through Facebook link. It was claimed that he gets IPOs for every company. Information about new IPOs appeared on the app in the same way as it appears on any other app or website. I paid eight lakh rupees for an IPO, but did not get the IPO on time, after which I realized that I was cheated. – Arun Parikh, Doctor, AIIMS
Got a call from ICICI Bank representative. He told that the credit card has 600 reward points, redeem it. He also told the method to redeem. During the redemption process he sent OTP. OTP came on my number in the name of the bank, trusting it I told it. Shortly after the call was disconnected, a message came to deduct Rs 3 lakh from the credit card. – Sonam Jain, businessman
Someone had sent Rs 1800 to my bank account. The next day he called and said that you had taken a loan of Rs 1800, repay it by paying Rs 3200. When I refused, he threatened to tamper with and rebroadcast my obscene photos. Scared, I sent him the money. After this, five thousand rupees were sent to the account and a demand for ten thousand was made. After this the demand continued to increase. Later, he told the matter to his friends and family and complained to the cyber police. -Vijendra Yadav, businessman
year complaints fraud amount
2019 2792 1 crore 48 lakh (approximately)
2020 3643 3 crore 20 lakh (approximately)
2021 3915 4 crore 18 lakh
2022 5491 17 crore 15 lakh
2023 6087 24 crore 35 lakh 2024 5463 55 crore 88 lakh
Increase in the amount of fraud from 2019 to 2024 (in percentage)
2019 to 20 212
2020 to 21 130
2021 to 22 410
2022 to 23 142
2023 to 24 229
Also take a look at this year’s cyber crimes
- Total complaints registered in Bhopal Cyber ​​Crime Cell (till 15 November 2024) – 5463.
- As compared to traditional crime, 38 percent of the crimes were only cyber crimes.
- 1073 cases of cyber bullying and harassment on internet media have been reported.
- In 4370 cases of online fraud, fraud of Rs 55 crore 88 lakh took place.
- One thousand FIRs were registered in various police stations for traditional crimes.
Stole 290 crores from the state this year
Year amount in rupees
2021 11 crores
2022 45 crores
2023 200 crores
2024 290 crores
How the graph of crime increased in the digital world
Increasing use of smart phones– The number of mobile holders has increased one and a half times in five years. They use various apps on the internet where consumer data resides.
Cheap and high speed internetT- Internet is available in India at very affordable rates. Besides, its speed has also increased a lot in the last few years. This has increased the number of internet users.
Digital Transformation- Under digital transformation, everything from government services to private business has become online. The digital payment system has given it a new look.
Lack of awareness- More than 90 percent of mobile and internet users are still deprived of basic knowledge of cyber security. They are the easiest prey for cyber fraudsters.
Lack of cyber security infrastructure- A strong framework for cyber security has not been created in the country. The rules and regulations that have been made are also weak. The police also have a weak system to catch cyber criminals.