Data show a 200% increase in cyber fraud cases this year, although few have been arrested. -

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Data show a 200% increase in cyber fraud cases this year, although few have been arrested

According to authorities, other thefts include email phishing, e-wallet fraud, Chinese app fraud, and extortion fraud.

A 34-year-old doctor was defrauded of Rs 4 crore by a group acting as agents from the Narcotics Control Bureau in May, leading to one of Delhi’s largest cyber frauds.

Police

The suspect informed the woman that a FedEx package addressed to her included significant amounts of MDMA and other drugs.

The woman received a warning informing her that the Maharashtra Police would detain her when their “packages” were discovered in Mumbai.

She was subsequently instructed to close her bank account since her information had been stolen. The woman submitted her bank information out of fear, only to discover that the accused had stolen her money.

The instances, which include bank and email frauds as well as UPI fraud, have resulted in a financial loss of more than Rs 200 crore this year. Furthermore, according to sources, only 2–8% of the stolen money has been retrieved.

Three months have passed since the last arrest, though. According to data supplied by the Delhi Police, this instance is one of over 25,000 cyber fraud cases that have been reported so far this year. This represents a 212% rise from the 8,000 incidents reported in the same period the previous year.

According to data, this year’s arrests in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Karnataka resulted in the recovery of Rs 8–10 crore. One to two crore rupees of the stolen money were recovered last year.

In fact, there are even more complaints being filed. More than 2.2 lakh cyber fraud complaints have reportedly been submitted through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) in Delhi since January 2022, according to sources.

Since only 1-2% of complaints are turned into FIRs, the majority of them are still under investigation, according to a source. According to the police, this is because each FIR is filed by grouping together related complaints, and victims also file duplicate or fraudulent complaints.

The IFSO unit of the Delhi Police has its work cut out for it because of the quantity and variety of frauds and crime syndicates operating out of different states.

Officers in the Unit

Even though their chargesheet rate is high (excluding NCRP complaints), recovering stolen money isn’t always doable.

Here are some well-known frauds that have surfaced in the recent past:

Police

To obtain information from their targets, the accused pretended to be bank employees, investment firm executives, or technology professionals. They steal money after they get access to private information like

a) Credit Card Numbers,

b) OTPs,

c) Net Banking Passwords, or

d) Other Details.

Other thefts include

● Email Phishing,

● E-wallet Fraud,

● Chinese App Fraud, and

● Extortion Fraud.

Officer, IFSO.

“The handlers of numerous of these false contact centers, as well as those who provide the gang with bank accounts through which to receive funds, have been apprehended. The problem, though, is that it is difficult to recover the money that was defrauded because these gangs either divide the money to their colleagues within 10-15 days after the crime or send it to offshore accounts.”

In these frauds, the accused makes bogus websites to entice victims into buying stocks or bitcoin. The groups on Telegram and WhatsApp are used by the gangs to mass invite people to make investments. “Victims are conned into believing they are investing in reliable stocks, businesses, or cryptocurrencies.

One of the main issues is that these criminals frequently operate out of other countries or states than India. In order to mislead the police regarding the money trail, they also change the money into real Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.”

‘Work From Home Job Scams

Numerous gangs came up with this hoax to prey on job seekers on social media portals as a result of the epidemic that caused employment losses around the nation. The victims said they were defrauded of thousands of rupees, according to the police, who stated they have received numerous complaints from Delhi, Noida, and Gurgaon.

Officer

In one scam, the suspects established “movie-rating websites” and “hired” victims to rate films in order to generate income. “Before beginning the job or gaining access to the website, the victims were required to make a deposit. Later, they understood it was a con. The money was gone by that point.”

Gangs also use bogus jobs and recruiter aliases to target students and job seekers on various social media platforms.

Senior Police Officer

“The accused, who either reside in Dubai or have fled to Dubai and other nations, handle the money. In some situations, we have made arrests, but the kingpin is never located, and the recovery is minimal.”

About The Author

Suraj Koli is a content specialist with expertise in Cybersecurity and B2B Domains. He has provided his skills for News4Hackers Blog and Craw Security. Moreover, he has written content for various sectors Business, Law, Food & Beverage, Entertainment, and many others. Koli established his center of the field in a very amazing scenario. Simply said, he started his career selling products, where he enhanced his skills in understanding the product and the point of view of clients from the customer’s perspective, which simplified his journey in the long run. It makes him an interesting personality among other writers. Currently, he is a regular writer at Craw Security.