Indians lost over Rs 22,845 crore to cyber fraud in 2024; incidents skyrocket by 206%: Government
The information was provided by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in response to a written question in the Lok Sabha.
On Tuesday, Lok Sabha was informed that citizens had reportedly lost over Rs 22,845.73 crore to cyber criminals in 2024. This represented a significant increase of almost 206 per cent compared to the previous year. Minister of State for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, was responding to a written question. He stated that according to data from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS), which operates under the ministry's I4C, the total losses incurred by citizens due to cyber frauds across the country in 2024 amounted to Rs 22,845.73 crore, whereas the figure for the preceding year was Rs 7,465.18 crore.
Kumar further mentioned that 36,37,288 incidents of financial frauds committed by cyber criminals were reported on the NCRP and CFCFRMS in 2024, in contrast to 24,42,978 such incidents reported the year before.
Trends in cyber crime reporting
According to the data shared by the minister, 10,29,026 cyber crimes were reported on the NCRP in 2022, showing a 127.44 per cent increase over the previous year. In 2023, 15,96,493 incidents were reported, indicating a 55.15 per cent increment, and 22,68,346 cases were reported in 2024, reflecting a 42.08 per cent increase.
Initiatives against cyber fraud
Kumar highlighted that the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS), operating under I4C, was launched in 2021 to facilitate the immediate reporting of financial frauds and to prevent fraudsters from siphoning off funds. He noted that, as per CFCFRMS, over Rs 5,489 crore in financial amounts had been saved across more than 17.82 lakh complaints reported on the system so far.
Kumar clarified that cyber crime incidents reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, along with their conversion into FIRs, subsequent actions like filing chargesheets, arrests, and complaint resolutions, were handled by the respective state and union territory law enforcement agencies according to legal provisions.
Government actions and new modules
Detailing the government's actions against cyber criminals, the minister stated that more than 9.42 lakh SIM cards and 2,63,348 IMEIs, as reported by police authorities, had been blocked by the Centre.
He also informed that a Suspect Registry of cyber criminal identifiers was launched by I4C on September 10, 2024, in collaboration with banks and financial institutions. So far, over 11 lakh suspect identifier data received from banks and 24 lakh Layer 1 mule accounts had been shared with the participating entities of the Suspect Registry, reportedly saving over Rs 4631 crore.
The minister added that the 'Pratibimb' module had been launched, which maps the locations of criminals and crime infrastructure on a map to provide visibility to jurisdictional officers. He explained that this module also facilitates law enforcement agencies in seeking and receiving techno-legal assistance from I4C and other subject matter experts. This initiative had reportedly led to the arrest of 10,599 accused, the establishment of 26,096 linkages, and the processing of 63,019 cyber investigation assistance requests.
ALSO READ: Vivo's 6000mAh battery phone with Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge-like looks available under Rs 10,000