India lost ₹11,333 Crore to cyber fraud in first 9 months of 2024-25

Mumbai: The data compiled by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) showed that the country lost a whopping Rs 11,333 crore to cyber fraud in the first nine months of 2024, The Free Press Journal reported.

Amid the increasing incidents of cyber fraud, it is found that fraudsters based in South-east Asian countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos were behind nearly half of the 12 lakh cyber fraud complaints received in 2024.

Also more important, 4.5 lakh mule bank accounts were used to launder the proceeds of cybercrime, according to the report.

Of the various types of scams being reported, the stock-trading scams topped the list of financial frauds with Rs 4,636 crore lost in all 2,28,094 complainants received.

The investment-based scams claimed a loss of Rs 3,216 crore in 1,00,360 complaints, while Rs 1,616 crore lost to ‘digital arrest frauds, with 63,481 complaints.

The challenges that investigators faced in cyber fraud cases, according to the 14C, include : the anonymity of digital wallets, foreign money exchanges, lack of KYC protocols, VPN access, and cryptocurrency frauds from abroad.

It is reported citing data from the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) that nearly 12 lakh cyber fraud complaints were recorded in 2024 with 45 percent of them coming from Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.

Since 2021, the CFCFRMS has recorded 30.05 lakh complaints, marking losses amounting to Rs27,914 crore.

Meanwhile, the I4C blocked 17,000 WhatsApp accounts with links to cybercriminals operating out of south-east Asia.