Indians lost over ₹22,840cr to cyber criminals last year
What's the story
India witnessed a staggering rise in cybercrime losses in 2024, with citizens losing more than ₹22,845.73 crore to cyber criminals. This marks an increase of nearly 206% from the previous year. The data was shared by Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar during a session of the Lok Sabha today.
Fraud statistics
Around 36L cases of financial fraud reported in 2024
The Minister cited data from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS). Both are operated by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). In 2024, a total of 36,37,288 cases of financial fraud were reported on these platforms. This is a significant jump from the previous year's figure of 24,42,978.
Trend
Rise in number of incidents over the years
The data shared by Kumar shows a sharp rise in cybercrime incidents over the years. In 2022, NCRP reported 10,29,026 cases of cyber crimes, a whopping 127.44% increase from the earlier year. The number rose further to 15,96,493 incidents in 2023 (55.15% increment) and reached an all-time high of 22,68,346 cases in 2024 (42.08% increase).
Fraud prevention
CFCFRMS saved over ₹5,489cr
The CFCFRMS was launched in 2021 for quick reporting of financial frauds and preventing fund siphoning by fraudsters. So far, it has saved over ₹5,489 crore in more than 17.82 lakh complaints reported on the platform. This highlights the effectiveness of this system in curbing financial cybercrimes across India.
Criminal crackdown
Actions taken by Centre to curb crimes
The Centre has blocked over 9.42 lakh SIM cards and 2,63,348 IMEI numbers reported by police authorities. A suspect registry of identifiers of cyber criminals was announced by I4C on September 10, 2024, in association with banks/financial institutions. Till now, more than 11 lakh suspect identifier data received from banks, and 24 lakh Layer-1 mule accounts (bank accounts used for moving and disguising illicit funds) have been shared with the participating members of suspect registry, and saved over ₹4,631 crore.