According to data from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Indians lost more than Rs 1,750 crore to cyber criminals in the first four months of 2024. During this period, over 7 lakh 40 thousand cybercrime complaints were registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, which is run by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The number of cybercrime complaints registered per day in May 2024 averaged around 7,000, representing a significant increase compared to previous years.
Increase in Cybercrime Cases
The number of cybercrime cases in India has been steadily rising over the years. In 2019, there were 26,049 registered complaints, which increased to 2,57,777 in 2020, 4,52,414 in 2021, 9,66,790 in 2022, and 15,56,218 in 2023. In the first four months of 2024 alone, 7,40,957 complaints were registered. This upward trend indicates the growing prevalence of cybercrime in the country.
Types of Cybercrime
The majority of cybercrime cases in India involve financial online frauds. In fact, 85% of the registered complaints in the first four months of 2024 were related to financial frauds. Some of the common methods used by cybercriminals include online investment fraud, gaming apps, algorithm manipulations, illegal lending apps, sextortion, and OTP forwards. Investment scams accounted for over 1 lakh reported cases in 2023, resulting in a loss of ₹1.2 billion. Trading scams were also prevalent, with 20,043 cases reported and a loss of ₹14.2 billion during the same period.
Efforts to Combat Cybercrime
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) was established by the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide a framework for law enforcement agencies to deal with cybercrime. The I4C is actively working with various organizations, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Department of Telecommunications (DOT), and Fintech Companies, to address issues such as the use of mule accounts and abuse of telecom infrastructure by cybercriminals. They are also monitoring and blocking cybercrime infrastructure, such as Skype accounts, Google and Meta advertisements, SMS headers, SIM cards, and bank accounts.
In conclusion, cybercrime in India has been on the rise, with significant financial losses reported in recent years. Financial online frauds are the most common type of cybercrime, and efforts are being made by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to combat this issue.
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