Pune witnesses sharp rise in cybercrimes

A data showing number of complaints received under various cybercrime heads by Pune City police between 2021-22, shows that five cybercrime categories showed a sharp increase, including online loan application frauds and extortion, sextortion, cheating related to cryptocurrency investment, KYC information update and power bill frauds. As per the data, the Cyber Crime police station received around 19,020 complaints in 2021 and around 19,400 in 2022.

From 928 in 2021 to 3,471 cases in 2022, cases of frauds and extortion through online applications offering small loans formed a major chunk of the cybercrime complaints received by Pune City police. The victims fall prey to offers of small loans through online applications which offer quick credit ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000. While giving the loans, the entities running the app gain access to the person’s contact list, photos etc. After the disbursement of the loan, ‘executives’ of the loan app start demanding repayment, with large interest rates ranging from 30 to 300 percent.

In cases of online sextortion, cyber criminals threaten to distribute private and sensitive material of the victims online and demand money or more images of sexual nature or sexual favours. From 652 in 2021 to 1,458 in 2022, cases of sextortion have more than doubled. The victims are contacted by the cyber criminals through fake profiles of attractive looking men or women on social media platforms or phone messengers, then gain confidence and lure the victims into making video calls or sending images. The victims are then blackmailed into giving money, sexual favours and in some cases inside information or sensitive data that the victims have access to.

The number of people cheated through promises of large returns on investment in various cryptocurrency rose from 71 in 2021 to 154 in 2022. The frauds are perpetrated in broadly three ways. In some cases, cyber criminals seek investment from people promising high returns on investment in known cryptocurrencies. In some cases, cyber fraudsters claim to have created their own cryptocurrencies and cheat the investors through them, while in some, suspects put up fraudulent exchanges for well-known virtual currencies and flee with investors’ money.

From 552 in 2021 to 746 in 2022, the number of people falling prey to the Know Your Customer (KYC) frauds has also seen a significant rise. The victims receive calls, messages or emails seeking personal details and information of bank account, bank cards on the pretext of updating the KYC along with a threat or warning to freeze or deactivate the account. These fraudsters trick people into giving away login details, PINS, passwords or OTPs.

In 2021, they did not have a separate category recording the cases in which people were cheated on the pretext of power bill payments. In 2022, the cybercrime cell received as many as 472 cases in which people were cheated. It was estimated that the number was less than 100 in 2021.

Commissioner of Police of Pune City Retesh Kumaarr had said Pune requires more number of dedicated cybercrime police stations in addition to the existing one, considering the expanse of the city and the number of complaints received per year. He also said that training of available personnel in cybercrime investigation will be one of his priorities.