Click, Con, Gone: Bhopal Residents Lose Nearly ₹16 Crore To Cyber Fraud In Just 8 Months

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The victims of cyber fraud in Bhopal have lost nearly Rs 16 crore in last eight months with over 300 FIRs registered in connection with such cases, exposing the growing challenge posed by online financial crimes.

The actual loss may be higher, as the available data does not include cases involving fraud amounts below the earlier threshold of Rs 1 lakh for mandatory FIR registration. Besides the cases registered so far, 39 complaints are still pending to be registered as FIRs.

Senior police officials admit that cybercrime has emerged as a major challenge with complaints increasing steadily. Fraudsters are targeting people across age groups and adopting increasingly sophisticated tactics to trap victims.

To note, in recent e-Zero FIR guidelines, the parameters for mandatory FIR registration in cyber financial fraud cases has been reduced from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 25,000. Under the revised system, FIRs are now required in cyber fraud cases involving losses of more than Rs 25,000.

Money frozen, victims waiting

Several victims say that even after they reported fraud and police got the suspected bank accounts put on hold or the money frozen, they have not received their money back.

Police sources said that due to lack of manpower, police are often unable to carry out raids to nab the mule bank account holders spread across the country.

Delay in lodging plaints

Victims have also reported difficulties while filing complaints through the cyber helpline. Some claim that the process is lengthy and difficult to understand.

By the time complaints are processed, fraudsters may have already transferred the money through multiple bank accounts, making recovery more difficult.

Number of FIRs in past years

2022 - 70

2023 - 50

2024 - 75

2025 - 60

OTP alerts, fake e-challan link used to siphon off Rs 5.12 akh

Two separate incidents of cyber fraud were reported in which victims lost more than Rs 5.12 lakh. In one case, a man lost Rs 4.16 lakh despite claiming to have not sharing any OTP or banking details while another victim lost Rs 95,445 after opening a fake e-challan link.

A 32-year-old driver from Kajlikheda Kalu Singh received multiple OTP messages on his mobile on September 5. He did not share the OTP, ATM PIN or UPI PIN with anyone. Since no money was deducted immediately, he did not suspect fraud.

However, when he checked his bank account the next day, he found that Rs 4,16,999 had been withdrawn in seven transactions. He contacted the cyber helpline, following which Kajlikheda police registered a case against unidentified fraudsters.

In the second incident, a 33-year-old private company employee Gyanendra from Kundan Nagar in Bagsewania received a link purportedly related to an e-challan from a number on September 5.

Believing it was a genuine traffic challan, he opened the link following, which his phone was hacked and Rs 95,445 were withdrawn from his bank account. Bagsewania police have registered a case and launched an investigation.