200% spike in cyber fraud cases this year, recovery, arrest low: Data

The cases, ranging from UPI fraud to bank and email scams, have meant a financial loss exceeding Rs 200 crore this year, police said. Besides, only 2-8% of the cheated money has been recovered, said sources.

As per data, Rs 8-10 crore has been recovered this year after arrests were made from Delhi, UP, Haryana, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Karnataka. Last year, Rs 1-2 crore of the cheated sum was recovered.

Incidentally, the number of complaints received is even higher. Sources said since January 2022, more than 2.2 lakh cyber fraud complaints have been received through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) in Delhi.

Investigation in a majority of these is pending since only 1-2% of the complaints are converted into FIRs, said a source. Police said this is because each FIR is registered by clubbing together similar complaints and victims also lodge double or false complaints.

With the multiplicity and variety of scams, and crime syndicates operating from different states, the Delhi Police’s IFSO unit has its task cut out. Officers in the unit said while their chargesheet rate is high (not including NCRP complaints), recovery of cheated money isn’t possible in all cases.

Here are some notorious scams that have come to light in the past year:

‘Fake call’ scam

Police said the accused pose as bank officials, investment company executives, or tech executives to get information from targets. Once they get confidential data such as credit card details, OTPs, net banking passwords, or other details, they siphon off the money.

“We have unearthed several such fake call centres and caught their handlers, people who give bank accounts to the gang to receive money, and other associates. However, the issue is that recovering the cheated amount is hard as these gangs distribute money to their associates within 10-15 days of the crime and/or send the money to offshore accounts,” said an officer from the IFSO.

Cryptocurrency and investment scams

In such scams, the accused create fake websites that lure people to invest in stocks or Bitcoin. Using Telegram and WhatsApp groups, the gangs send mass invites to people to invest money. “Victims think they are investing in genuine stocks, companies, or cryptocurrency only to be duped. One of the major problems is that such criminals often operate from outside India or different states. They also convert the money to legit Bitcoin or cryptocurrency to confuse police about the money trail,” added the officer.

‘Work From Home’ job scams

With the pandemic leading to job losses across the country, many gangs hit upon this scam to target job applicants on social media portals. Police said they have received multiple complaints from Delhi, Noida, and Gurgaon with victims claiming they were cheated of lakhs of rupees.

In one such scam, the accused created “movie-rating websites” and “hired” victims to rate movies and earn money. “The victims were asked to deposit some money to start the job and/or access the website. They later realised it was a scam. By then, they had lost their money,” said another officer.

Gangs also target students and job seekers on multiple social media portals by creating fake jobs or posing as recruiters. “The money is handled by the accused who either live in Dubai or have fled to Dubai and other countries. We have made arrests in such cases but the kingpin is never found and the recovery is low,” said a senior police officer.

Other frauds include Chinese app scams, email takeovers, e-wallet scams, and extortion scams, said police.