Impact of Cyber-Attack on Telangana Economy
₹157 crores were stolen by cybercriminals from the people of Telangana in February 2024. The Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau (TSCSB) received reports of 9,661 cybercrime incidents, with 8,088 of those incidents involving financial fraud.
According to official statistics, 7,672 cases involving the top five MODUS Operandi (MO) resulted in a loss of over ₹119 crore in February. Only about ₹5 crore has been frozen thus far.
‘’Since the 1930 helpline was simplified in January 2024, there has been an upsurge in reports of cybercrimes of this kind. We also have cyber warriors in every police station, which has reduced some load of the status calls from the central system,” said Shikha Goel, Director of TSCSB.
Telangana Cybersecurity Challenges
With 3,143 cases, the most common type of identity theft was financial fraud, specifically involving credit/debit card fraud, Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) fraud, customer service scams posing as FedEx, Blue Dart, or banks, and income tax fraud. The public was duped out of ₹23 crore by fraudsters who offered services such as card blocking, increased card limits, updated KYC, PAN card linking, card replacement, and reward points.
Cybercrime Loss in Telangana
During the month, 1,822 cases of business and investment fraud were reported, resulting in a loss of close to ₹84.5 crore. Within this subset, there has been an upsurge in stock market trading scams aimed at unsuspecting investors, particularly those who are lured in by the promise of pre-allotment in forthcoming Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) through institutional stock market investment.
With customers losing more than ₹2 crore, loan frauds remained one of the top five MOs for this month as well. Most of the time, con artists would pester their victims into paying more money by sending their morphed photos to their contacts. According to TSCSB officials, e-commerce platform advertisement fraud is still on the rise. They claimed that sincerely believed advertisements shared on these forums had led people to lose more than ₹5 crore to fraudsters.
Cybercrime is constantly evolving and knows no borders, so it’s crucial to stay vigilant and not fall victim to the latest schemes, according to Ms Goel. She also emphasized the importance of reporting incidents promptly to prevent further harm.