Online fraudsters extort Rs 617.59 cr from Kerala in six months, only Rs 9.67 cr recovered: CM Vijayan tells Assembly

THIURUVANANTHAPURAM: Online fraudsters committed scams amounting to Rs 617.59 crore in Kerala in the last six months! Of this, only Rs 9.67 crore was recovered. This is the amount lost from December 2023 to May. Mostly people falling into the temptation of getting a huge amount of money, giving in to threats of fraudsters posing as CBI officials, using loan apps and sharing the OTP received on their mobile phones become victims of such scams.

Crores have also been extorted by pretending to be a top official of Mumbai Police's cyber wing and by making video calls and threatening that there are drugs in the parcel. The investigation is limited as the fraud is based in North India and other countries. Shocking figures related to this were revealed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Legislative Assembly yesterday.

The Chief Minister informed this in response to the questions of Najeeb Kanthapuram, N Shamsuddin, UA Latheef and AKM Ashraf.

Rs 181 crores worth of fraud in May alone (monthly amounts and recoveries below)

Month----------- Amount withdrawn---------Amount withdrawn

2023 Dec--------- 54.31 Crore---------- 73.47 Lakh

2024 Jan.----------- 32.84 Crores------------- 84.57 Lakhs

2024 Feb.------ 126.86 crore -------------1.87 crore

2024 March.--------- 86.11 crore ---------- 1.65 crore

April 2024--------136.28 crores------- 3.30 crores

2024 May--------------181.17 crores------- 1.25 crores

Rs 201 crore in 2023

Online fraudsters extorted Rs 201 crore rupees from Kerala in 2023. 23,753 complaints were received. 3,394 people lost 74 crores in share market scams alone.

Professionals also fall prey (five months' estimate)

IT experts-93

Doctor-55

Govt Officers-60

Teachers-39

Bank officers-31

Military personnel-27

Expat Malayalis-80

Housewives-93

Traders-123

Private employees-327

Triple 'profit trap' in online trading

1. The scammers pitch their business through Instagram and Facebook. Those who invest a small amount will get exorbitant profits. After this, they invest a huge amount. Then, the investors will be told that they got tow or three times profit. But this money cannot be withdrawn. More money will be levied in the name of GST.

2. Money can be recovered if reported on helpline 1930 within two hours of loss. Complaints are usually received after 10 days. By then the fraudsters will have transferred the money to other accounts.

To complain

9497980900

(Police WhatsApp)

1930

(Toll Free Number)

www.cybercrime.gov.in