Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): How naive are the state police before cyber fraudsters can be gauged from the fact that the men in khaki managed to recover less than 1% of the total amount lost to cyber frauds in Madhya Pradesh last year. Using various tricks, cyber crooks pocket around Rs 49.52 crore in 2024.

Of this amount, the police were able to freeze only Rs 16.85 lakh and recover a mere Rs 60.64 lakh, which accounts for less than 1% of the total losses. A total of 1,253 cases were registered and 968 cyber criminals were arrested in connection with these frauds.

In 2024, numerous cases of ‘digital arrest’ scams were reported across the state, with victims losing a staggering Rs 19.54 crore. Of this, the police managed to freeze Rs 3.72 crore deposited in banks and recovered just Rs 78 lakh.

42 OTP scams

Through OTP scam, the crooks managed to trick individuals into revealing their one-time passwords through phishing tactics. In the state, 42 such cases were registered in 2024 and a total amount of Rs 1.82 crore went into the accounts of the scammers.   

On The Top

INVESTMENT FRAUDS Rs 73Cr lost in 295 cases The cheaters lured the investors showing huge returns on small investments. In all 295 cases were registered last year and the vulnerable people lost Rs 73.70 crore to the tricksters. Police were able to freeze around Rs 6.47 crore.

47 bank a/c hacked

In the year 47 people approached the cops with a complaint that their bank accounts were hacked. They lost more than Rs 37 crore, the police could only freeze Rs 74 lakh and recover Rs 13.26 lakh.

Rs 1 cr lost in the name of Gift Card

The cyber fraudsters lured people promising gift cards .More than Rs 1 crore was taken from 13 people in the name of gift card. The police managed to freeze Rs 2,227 and recovered Rs 25,000.

44 fell victim to Sextortion

In the state, 45 people became victims of sexual extortion or 'sextortion'. They were blackmailed and threatened to share a nude or sexual image or video unless they give in to their demands. Tpeople lost Rs 2.77 crore to the crooks. Police have frozen just Rs 40,000 but not a single rupee has been recovered so far.

Social media frauds

As many as 393 people had fallen victim to social media scams in 2024. Scammers created fake profiles on social networking sites, befriended innocent people, and sent spam messages or links to malicious websites. The victims lost more than Rs 87.23 lakh to the crooks. Timely action by the police helped in recovering Rs 54 lakh.