People of Karnataka lost a whopping ₹363 crore to cyber frauds in the year 2022, which averages very close to ₹1 crore per day. In January 2023 alone, people lost ₹36.63 crore to cyber fraudsters, breaching the ₹1 crore per day average.
As per the written reply provided by Home Minister Araga Jnanendra to questions raised by MLC M. Nagaraju on cyber frauds in the State, the amount of money lost increased five times in the last four years. In 2019, people ended up losing ₹71.27 crore to online frauds and the amount touched over ₹363 crore in 2022.
Among the districts and cities, Bengaluru tops the list. Last year, Bengalurueans lost ₹266 crore to cybercrimes. In 2021, people lost ₹97.79 crore to online frauds. Mysuru city stands second - fraudsters wiped out ₹14.07 crore from the victims. In Yadgir district, people lost the least amount of money - ₹4.35 lakh in 2022, marginally higher than ₹4.22 lakh in 2021.
People fell prey to various forms of cybercrimes, mainly targeting their online payment gateways and bank accounts. Social media platforms have also been used to cheat people financially and otherwise.
“The penetration of data and digitisation of the economy over the last two years both in the countryside and among the lower income groups, has made large swathes of the populace otherwise insulated from cybercrimes, suddenly vulnerable. Now even a pushcart seller has a digital payment gateway, which was not the case earlier. Data penetration has also brought them to social media platforms. This hasn’t been coupled with digital literacy, making them more prone to cyber fraudsters,” a senior official with experience in fighting cybercrime said. However, he also said that compared to previous years, reporting of cybercrimes had shot up in the last two years.
₹46.87 crore recovered
The reply from the State government said that in 2022, the enforcement agencies recovered ₹46.87 crore lost to cybercrime. The recovery amount gradually increased over the years. The authorities recovered ₹8.59 crore in 2019. The amount jumped to ₹14.83 crore in 2020 and ₹25.96 crore in 2021. This is thanks to the Cyber-crime Incidence Report (CIR) started by the Bengaluru city police in mid-2021, which helps cybercrime victims recover the money lost if reported within the golden hour.
Published - February 21, 2023 09:12 pm IST
