Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Indian citizens lost more than Rs. 22,845.73 crore to cyber criminals in 2024, a staggering increase of nearly 206 percent from the previous year, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Responding to a written question, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar said that, according to the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) operated by the ministry’s I4C, the total amount of losses incurred by citizens due to cyber frauds in the entire country in 2024 was Rs. 22,845.73 crore as compared to Rs. 7,465.18 crore the previous year.
He said 36,37,288 incidents of financial frauds committed by cyber criminals were reported on NCRP and CFCFRMS in 2024 as compared to 24,42,978 the previous year, the media reported.
According to the data shared, 10,29,026 cybercrimes were reported on NCRP in 2022 (a 127.44 percent increase over the previous year), 15,96,493 in 2023 (55.15 percent increase) and 22,68,346 in 2024, (a 42.08 percent increase).
“The CFCFRMS, under I4C, was launched in 2021 for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters,” he said.
Kumar said that, as per CFCFRMS, financial amount of more than Rs. 5,489 crores have been saved in more than 17.82 lakh complaints reported on it so far.
“Cybercrime incidents reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, their conversion into FIRs and subsequent action, i.e., filing of chargesheets, arrests and resolution of complaints, thereon are handled by the state/UT law enforcement agencies concerned as per the provisions of the law,” Kumar said.
About the action taken by the government against cyber criminals, the minister said, so far, more than 9.42 lakh SIM cards and 2,63,348 IMEIs as reported by police authorities have been blocked by the Centre.
A Suspect Registry of identifiers of cyber criminals was launched by I4C on September 10, 2024, in collaboration with banks/financial institutions. So far, more than 11 lakh suspect identifier data received from banks and 24 lakh Layer 1 mule accounts have been shared with the participating entities of Suspect Registry and saved more than Rs. 4,631 crore, he said.
It has launched the Pratibimb module, which maps locations of criminals and crime infrastructure on a map to give visibility to jurisdictional officers.
“The module also facilitates seeking and receiving techno-legal assistance by law enforcement agencies from I4C and other SMEs. It has led to the arrest of 10,599 accused, 26,096 linkages and 63,019 cyber investigation assistance requests,” Kumar said.