Indians have lost Rs 7,488.6 crore to cyber fraud last year, the ministry of home affairs told Parliament on Tuesday. While agencies are struggling to combat rising cybercrime in the country, Maharashtra leads the pack with losses at a staggering Rs 990.7 crore followed by Telangana at Rs 759.1 crore.
Highlighting the widespread nature of cybercrime across the country, other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Gujarat also experienced significant financial losses, with reported amounts reaching Rs 721.1 crore, Rs 661.2 crore, Rs 662.1 crore and 650.5 crore, respectively.
The alarming figures underscore the urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity measures and public awareness campaigns. Authorities are urging people to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious online activity. The home ministry said the ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting Management System’ received 11,28,265 complaints last year.
“The ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ (https://cybercrime.gov.in) has been launched, as part of the I4C (Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre), to enable the public to report… all types of cyber crimes, with special focus on…women and children,” the ministry said in a written reply.
“Cybercrime incidents reported on this portal, their conversion into FIRs and subsequent action…are handled by the state/UT law enforcement agencies concerned as per the provisions of the law. The ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’, under I4C, has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters. Since (its) inception…more than Rs 1,200 crore has been saved in more than 4.7 lakh complaints,” the MHA said.
The ministry further said a toll-free helpline ‘1930’ is operational for assistance in lodging online cyber complaints. To date, more than 3.2 lakh SIM cards and 49,000 IMEIs, as reported by the police, have been blocked by the central government.
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