Visakhapatnam: Residents of Visakhapatnam lost more than Rs 60 crore to cyber fraudsters between January and August 2026, posing a growing challenge for police as the recovery rate remains below 12%. Investigators are also finding it increasingly difficult to crack cases and track down cybercriminals.The cybercrime police station registered around 140 FIRs based on more than 800 complaints from across the city during the eight-month period. Police officials said a single FIR often combines between eight and 20 complaints of a similar nature, accounting for the wide gap between the number of complaints and FIRs. In 2025, cybercriminals duped more than 2,000 people in Vizag, causing losses of around Rs 122 crore. On average, about 20 cybercrime-related FIRs are registered every month in the city.A senior police officer said investment frauds involving online trading platforms, fake share market schemes and loan scams account for nearly 60% of cybercrime cases reported in recent months. While incidents of digital arrest scams have declined slightly, elderly citizens continue to remain vulnerable targets. Cases involving OTP frauds, fake KYC updates, malicious APK links and phishing messages have shown a consistent decline, he added.Police said financial cybercrimes have increased sharply in recent years, overtaking traditional robberies in terms of monetary losses. Investment-linked frauds present unique investigative challenges. While smaller mule accounts can often be frozen quickly, high-value investment frauds are harder to crack because funds are routed across multiple states within minutes. This has kept the recovery rate low in many cases.The Vizag city police have, however, managed to refund around Rs 28.5 crore to more than 1,550 victims of cyber fraud over the past few years.Recently, more than 20 youngsters, including employees of private firms and government departments, lost over Rs 1 crore in investment scams. Lured by promises of quick and high returns, many fell victim to fraudulent stock market schemes.“We often freeze fraudsters’ accounts within minutes of receiving complaints, but the criminals continue to create new mule accounts. We have found that some unemployed youth and low-income private employees supply bank accounts to fraudsters in return for commissions,” police said.Police attributed the rise in cyber fraud largely to greed and the lure of quick profits. “Many people want to double their money within a few days and end up falling prey to fraudsters despite repeated awareness campaigns. In some cases, victims have even attempted suicide after losing large sums,” officials added.
Click Here For The Original Source.
