Mumbai Cyber Crime Surge: Cases Rise 38 Per Cent In First 4 Months Of 2026; Credit Card Frauds, Investment Scams Top List

Mumbai, June 2: There has been an increase of over 38 per cent in the registration of cyber-crime cases in the first quarter of this year in the city, as compared to the cases registered during the same period last year, statistics provided by the city police have revealed.

The city police registered 1,532 cyber-crime cases from January to April this year, with the maximum number of cases related to credit/debit card online fraud, followed by share market investment fraud and fake social media profile/morphing email/SMS.

Out of 1,532 cases, only 263 cases were detected and 178 persons were arrested in these cases. Last year, 1,106 cyber-crime cases were registered by the city police from January to April.

Online cheating cases dominate cyber-crime statistics

The police have classified online cheating cases into 13 different categories.

This year, 864 online cheating cases were registered, out of which the maximum were related to share market investment fraud (163), followed by investment fraud (58), cheating by posing as government officials (43), fake website fraud (42), job fraud (36), online purchase fraud (25), loan fraud (20), custom/gift fraud (11) and cryptocurrency fraud (7).

The police have detected 122 out of 864 cases and have arrested 109 persons for their alleged involvement in these offences.

Apart from online cheating cases, this year the police have registered 347 credit/debit card online fraud cases, followed by fake social media profile/morphing email/SMS (60), obscene email/SMS/MMS/post (46), hacking (42), phishing/MIM attack/spoofing mail (39), sextortion (9), data theft (6) and pornography (2) cases.

Mixed trends across cyber-crime categories

A closer analysis of the statistics revealed that cases such as phishing/MIM attack/spoofing mail, fake social media profile/morphing email/SMS, credit card/online fraud, hacking, fake website fraud, investment fraud and loan fraud have shown an increasing trend this year compared to last year.

Meanwhile, cases of pornography, obscene email/SMS/MMS/post, custom/gift fraud, job fraud, insurance/provident fund fraud, admission fraud, share market investment fraud, matrimonial fraud, cryptocurrency fraud, cheating by posing as a government official, data theft and sextortion have shown a decreasing trend this year.

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Police focus on awareness and prompt registration

"Several efforts are being taken by the Mumbai Police to promptly register cyber-crime cases. The government and police also create awareness about cyber-crimes through social media and warn citizens about emerging and ongoing cyber-crime threats," said a police officer.

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