KATHMANDU: Surendra Prasad Khanal, 34, of Nuwakot, was arrested on July 10 for allegedly attempting to defame a woman by sending obscene messages via email.
In separate incidents earlier that month, police arrested 19-year-old Bibek Sunar, also from Nuwakot, on July 8 for hacking a Facebook account to carry out fraud, while 22-year-old Shubham Sah of Rautahat was detained on June 16 for posing as an eSewa employee to scam victims.
According to the Nepal Police Newsroom, these cases represent a broader crackdown by the Cyber Bureau against electronic offenses, including blackmailing via social media, online scams, financial fraud, and unauthorized access to software source codes.
A total of 20,526 cybercrime complaints were registered with police during the fiscal year 2025/26, resulting in 161 formal cases filed and 155 arrests.
The vast majority of complaints involved social media platforms, led by Facebook and Messenger with 7,123 cases, followed by TikTok with 6,776, WhatsApp with 3,105, Telegram with 1,031, and Instagram with 628.
Additional complaints involved digital wallets, bank accounts, and SMS scams totaling 744 cases, along with institutional offenses at 846, alongside smaller numbers involving email, YouTube, Imo, Viber, WeChat, X (Twitter), and Google. By comparison, the bureau received 18,926 complaints in FY 2024/25 and 19,730 in FY 2023/24.
Commenting on recent trends, Cyber Bureau Spokesperson Superintendent of Police (SP) Dilip Kumar Giri noted that the misuse of social media has escalated alongside its growing adoption.
Recent complaint patterns highlight a sharp rise in fraudsters impersonating bank or digital wallet representatives to drain accounts, alongside fake gift and lottery schemes, romance scams, fraudulent foreign employment promises, fake online job offers via messaging apps, and online shopping fraud.
Established on May 10, 2018, to address the increasingly complex nature of technology-driven crime, the Cyber Bureau continues to prosecute offenders under the Electronic Transactions Act, 2008.
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