Mumbai: Mumbai, Thane, and Pune have become the most common soft targets for cybercriminals in the state. Mumbai ranks first in terms of the highest number of complaints. In 2024, 54,836 complaints of cyber fraud were reported in Mumbai. Pune ranks second with 26,332 complaints, while Thane ranks third with 23,148 complaints.
There has also been an alarming rise in cybercrime incidents in Navi Mumbai and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Data obtained by Jitendra Ghadge of The Young Whistleblowers Foundation under the RTI Act has revealed that financial fraud accounts for the majority of cybercrimes.
According to the RTI data, in 2024 (till October), fraud amounted was Rs 811 crore, a sharp increase compared to Rs145 crore in 2020. Of the Rs 811 crore, the police have managed to recover only 3%, amounting to Rs27.35 crore.
According to the obtained data, cybercrime cases have seen a significant rise over the years, with financial fraud leading the charts. Despite an increase in the number of cases, the police’s response has remained inadequate, both in terms of arrests and financial recovery.
Despite the surge in cybercrime cases, the number of arrests has not kept pace. In 2024 (till October), only 667 people were arrested. This is lower compared to 1,996 arrests in 2022. Additionally, there has been a decline in solved cases, from 973 in 2021 to just 337 in 2023.Cyber Fraud
Ghadge said, “Lakhs of citizens and businesses have suffered serious financial losses. Unfortunately, only a handful of cases are registered, while most complaints never get turned into FIRs. As a result, those citizens never recover their losses.
The onus should be on preventing financial fraud rather than solely going after criminals who are using sophisticated methods to commit these offences. The banking system needs to be reformed especially to block accounts used by criminals, and more awareness must be created among citizens
