Cybercrime Cases Surge In Bengaluru, Concerns Over Conviction Rates Come To Light

Bengaluru, the hub of global technology firms and home to numerous startups, has witnessed a startling rise in cybercrime cases over the past few years, according to data presented by the Karnataka government before the Legislative Assembly.

The figures indicate that the number of reported cybercrime incidents has more than tripled between 2017 and 2022, with the trend continuing into the current year.

In 2022 alone, Bengaluru reported a staggering 9,940 cybercrime cases, marking a substantial jump from the 2,742 cases reported in 2017. The city has already recorded 6,226 cases in the first five months of this year, and if this pace persists, it is predicted that the number of cases may surpass all previous records, potentially reaching around 12,000 cases or more by the year's end.

The data also reveals a concerning rate of conviction, with a meager number of cases resulting in successful prosecutions. Out of the reported cybercrime cases, the cybercrime wing of the Bengaluru City Police detected only 16 cases by the end of May this year, following 1,536 cases in 2022, 2,014 cases in 2021, and 3,308 cases in 2020. The conviction rate has been consistently low, with only a handful of cases resulting in convictions each year.

Debit/credit card and online money transfer frauds have been the most common cybercrimes reported, accounting for almost half of the total cases in 2022, with 4,252 incidents recorded. Other prevalent cybercrime categories include card skimming, job fraud, matrimony scams, business opportunity frauds, advance fee scams, lottery scams, SIM cloning, social media cases, import/export scams, bitcoin fraud, and various others.

Acknowledging the severity of the situation, two years ago, the Bengaluru City Police introduced a system aimed at preventing cybercrimes as they occur in payment gateways and banking channels, marking the first such effort in the country. Collaborating closely with the Reserve Bank of India, the police have implemented a standard operating procedure to guide banks on responding to cybercrime alerts, emphasising their crucial role in the initiative's success.

To facilitate the reporting of online frauds, the city police introduced the Cybercrimes Incident Report (CIR), allowing victims to easily report incidents by dialing the police helpline 112. This kind of reporting enables the police to intervene swiftly and recover funds before transactions are completed and fraudsters withdraw the money. As a result, thousands of bank accounts with crores of rupees have been reportedly frozen by the police.

In 2022, the Bengaluru City Police registered 8,760 CIRs, successfully resolving 8,449 cases and returning Rs 1.8 crore to victims. In the first six months of this year, 4,090 CIRs were registered, with 3,270 cases resolved and Rs 65 lakh returned to victims. Shockingly, victims lost approximately Rs 77 crore to cyber frauds last year, with Rs 65 crore already lost in the first half of this year.