Bengaluru emerges as the leading tech-enabled city for scams: Cyber fraud has been on an upward spiral during the period 2021 through September 2024, reports the police while citing the cumulative loss to this city as an amount of Rs 2,270 crore during the period and six major types of scams where the loss involved nearly Rs 1,788 crore.
Important Fraud Categories
The figures point to considerable losses in the following fraud types:
Investment Frauds: Unrealistic returns promised by fraudsters led to a loss of ₹1,187.2 crore.
Job Frauds: Losses due to fake job offers stood at ₹601.23 crore.
Courier Scams: Well developed courier-related schemes accounted for ₹165.57 crore.
Card Scams: Stolen card details used for fraudulent transactions resulted in losses of ₹116 crore.
Phishing Attacks: Emails and messages designed to steal personal data caused ₹96.98 crore in damages.
Loan App Frauds: Fraudulent lending platforms resulted in ₹32.25 crore in losses.
Challenges in Recovery
Recovery of stolen funds is still a challenge for the investigators. Police have identified two major hurdles:
Delayed Reporting: Victims mostly delay reporting frauds, and thus miss the most crucial "golden hour," when funds can be frozen.
Lag in Banks' Response: Banks used to take up to eight days to provide account details, which adversely affected recovery operations. This is now reduced to 4-5 days, post meetings with RBI, but there is more to be achieved.
AI in Cybercrime
AI has been a gambler for scamsters in Bengaluru. Advanced technologies are being made use of to devise highly believable frauds:
- Voice Cloning: AI produced voice replicas make the victim believe he is communicating with his trusted contact.
- Improved Courier Scams: AI assists scammers to fabricate more convincing courier fraud scenarios.
- Fake Investment Platforms: AI interfaces mimic authentic apps, to look incredibly real.
Proposed Solutions
To counter these emergent threats, the authorities have stressed the requirement of public education and systemic reformation. The CEN wing has suggested that:
1. There should be a campaign for citizen education about prevailing scams.
2. There should be better coordination among banks, the police, and regulatory bodies so that the responses are faster.
3. A specific cybercrime wing with special resources should be developed, as already announced by the government.
Although measures to improve response times and raise awareness have shown promise, experts stress that more robust systems are needed to tackle the growing paradigm of cybercriminals. With AI reshaping the way scams operate, staying informed and cautious is now more crucial than ever.
