Cybercrime losses dip from 22cr a month last yr to 16.5cr a month now
Times of India | 27 August 2025
Kolkata: The amount of money lost to cybercrime in the city has decreased, from an average of Rs 22 crore a month in 2024 to around Rs 16.5 crore a month now. Recovery of siphoned money had also increased though the rate needed to improve further, said a senior Lalbazar officer. Police and cybercrime experts attributed the drop primarily to continuous awareness campaigns and the increased caution and vigilance among a large section of residents.
During a meeting, taking stock of cybercrime in the city over the past year, police commissioner Manoj Verma said that returning victims their money was now a top priority on their agenda. A senior officer pointed out that 9.5% of stolen money—most of them siphoned in online investment and digital arrest frauds—could be recovered in 2024, while the figure went up to 19.5% in the past seven months, with one month yielding a 30% recovery. "This can be considered a significant success since 2024. But we plan to take this recovery rate to at least 50%," said the officer. | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in KolkataEver since Verma took charge as the CP, his focus has been on curbing cybercrime. He has revamped the cyber police station of Kolkata Police and set up a dedicated recovery unit, constantly emphasising the importance of recovering money, stolen by cyber crooks, at almost every monthly crime conference.
Cyber criminals use various modus operandi to defraud people, such as fake digital arrest, OTP sharing, ATM fraud, fake hotel booking and Aadhaar fraud. An average of Rs 1,200 crore is lost to cyber fraud in the state every year.
Given the challenge of recovering stolen money, especially tracking multiple accounts, where fraudsters transfer the amounts, a separate recovery cell has been established in the Lalbazar cyber PS. The cyber cell at each KP division is also instructed to work on recovering money. A senior officer said the results of these measures had started showing and would be more significant by the end of this year.
DG (cyber) of Bengal Sanjay Singh, at the launch of a two-year postgraduate course in criminology and criminal science justice by West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences last week, claimed that the nature of cybercrime went beyond boundaries and jurisdictions, making it difficult to crack. "After a complaint is lodged on National Crime Reporting portal, the first task is to stall the flow of money, which passes through up to 100 bank accounts across 20 states in India," Singh said. He added the NCRP received around 400 complaints a day in Bengal and the money lost was Rs 3 -4 crore a day. "The annual loss in India stands at Rs 30,000 crore," he said.