Pune: In January Punekars Lost Rs 19 Crore To Cyber Fraudsters, Highest In Last 13 Months

Pune, 18th February 2024: In January, online scammers managed to deceive citizens into losing more money than in the previous 13 months combined, as reported by Pune’s cyber police. The authorities received a staggering 195 online fraud complaints, amounting to Rs 19 crore, in the first month of this year. This surpasses the total of 900 complaints received between January and December of the previous year, which accounted for Rs 35.92 crore in losses.

Pune cyber police station’s inspector Meenal Patil stated, “In terms of the money lost and the cases reported, this (January numbers) was the highest in the past 13 months.”

Among these cases, 43 were linked to online share trading scams, and 46 were related to online task frauds. One prominent case involved a fraudster impersonating the CEO of a Pune construction firm, instructing the accounts officer to transfer Rs 4.06 crore on January 26. Exploiting the CEO’s absence in Dubai at the time, the accounts manager executed the transfer through 20 transactions via RTGS between January 26 and January 30.

Police inspector Patil revealed, “We registered two high-volume share trading fraud cases, one CEO impersonation case, and quite a few task fraud cases involving money ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 50 lakh in January. In a share fraud case, a victim transferred Rs 3 crore to the fraudsters.”

In share trading frauds, suspects add potential victims’ phone numbers to messaging app groups, discussing fictitious profits and sharing online links for victims to download an app. Fraudsters manipulate numbers on victims’ screens using fake software, convincing them to transfer money in exchange for promised profits.

Patil further explained, “The analysis of the software and the phone numbers used by the fraudsters revealed that they use masked VPNs to cheat the victims. We are tracking down these masked VPNs to zero in on the suspects.”

Additional commissioner of police (Crime) Shailesh Balkawade attributed the rise in online fraud cases to “greed and easy money.”

Cyber experts point out that users, particularly smartphone users, often lack knowledge about online transfers and identifying fake websites. Victims are enticed by promises of high returns on investments, leading to a significant surge in online cheating cases.

The Pune cyber police had notable successes in investigating online fraud in the past, including a Rs 35-lakh online task fraud in April 2023 and the exposure of an online task fraud racket in December 2023 involving arrests in multiple cities. However, the recent spike in online scams underscores the ongoing challenges in combating cybercrime and the need for increased awareness among internet users.