Cybercrooks loot ₹46 cr from Vizagites till Aug

Visakhapatnam: Residents of Visakhapatnam lost more than 46 crore to cybercrooks between Jan and Aug this year. With advancement in technology, scammers have been employing new ways to swindle people. In the last eight months, police registered over 240 complaints of cybercrime in the city.
At least 10 to 20 people are reportedly falling prey to cyber frauds every day in Vizag city alone.The cases have abruptly increased in the past few months. The threat of cybercrime is not only limited to financial loss. Identity theft, cyberstalking, distribution of pornography, and trafficking are all serious cybercrimes.

Police said according to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, more than 13,000 people in Vizag city have fallen victim to cybercrime, resulting in losses amounting to around 100 crore over the years. Of this amount, 18 crore were frozen in various bank accounts. The city police have released 4.6 crore of the frozen funds to 150 victims.
Speaking to TOI, inspector of cybercrimes police station, K Bhavani Prasad said cybercrooks are using various methods, including matrimonial and dating apps to find targets for honey trapping and plundering money of the victims. Recently a number of people from Vizag city were cheated by the crooks via fraudulent apps on the pretext of making investments in stock markets. Similarly, some people were swindled out of lakhs of money by fraudsters who falsely threatened them with money laundering and high-profile drug charges.
City police chief Shanka Brata Bagchi said despite the growing concern, some cases of cybercrime go unreported.
“Cybercriminals are finding creative ways to steal people’s hard-earned money. Vizag city police have been learning advanced technicalities through various sources to solve cases faster and to create awareness among netizens on cybercrimes,” he added.
It is recalled that Vizag witnessed 419 major cybercrimes in 2023. Cybercrooks stole more than 32 crore from the locals. In 2022, 16.33 crore was stolen from netizens. In 2021, cybercrooks duped 9.32 crore from Vizag residents in 279 cases, using various methods. “The cybercrimes have been increasing in many parts of the state for past few years. If victims report the crime promptly within one hour, the lost money can be frozen immediately. This allows us to proceed legally and return the money to the victims,” the cops added.