According to the data sourced from National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), the total number of financial cybercrime fraud cases in Kerala in 2023 was more than twice the number in 2022. While there were 20,569 cases in 2023, the number was 9,518 in 2022.
The total sum of money lost over the last few years has also hit a new record in 2023. In 2023, a whopping Rs 200.92 crore was swindled by online scammers from Kerala. In 2020, the amount was Rs 10,000, and in 2021 it was Rs 10.74 lakh. In 2022, the figure stood at Rs 48.23 lakh. The data for the amount recovered, however, is not available for all the years.
The details were revealed in a Right to Information (RTI) reply received by Robin Vinay Kumar Zaccheus, a Hyderabad-based activist, from the Kerala State Crimes Records Bureau.
As per the RTI reply, Ernakulam rural police station reported the highest number of cases in 2023 (1,947). It was followed by Palakkad police station (1,900) and Ernakulam City police station (1,712). Kannur police station maintained its record of 2022 with zero cases in 2023.
When the financial cybercrime fraud statistics for the last few years are compared, an increasing trend can be found in almost all the police stations in Kerala. The total number of cases reported in 2019 was 125; 1,214, in 2020; 3,991 in 2021; 9,518 in 2022, and the record number of 20,569 in 2023. Wayanad police station reported just one case in 2019. In 2023, it rose to 262.
Even though Kannur police station reported zero cases of financial fraud, both Kannur City police station (2022- 281, 2023- 585) and Kannur Rural police station ( 2022- 117, 2023- 366) have witnessed an increase in the number of cases.