Bengalureans lose over Rs 4,100 crore to cyber crime in 3 years, only 7 percent of the sum recovered

Cyber crime

Bengaluru reported 44,177 cybercrime cases between 2023 and October 31, 2025, with citizens losing Rs 4,143 crore during the period.

Financial losses nearly tripled from Rs 681 crore in 2023 to Rs 1,996 crore in 2024, driven largely by investment scams, phishing attempts, online payment fraud and digital-arrest scams, Bengaluru City Police records accessed by Moneycontrol show. Losses remained high in 2025 as well, touching Rs 1,466 crore in just the first 10 months.

On November 14, a 57-year-old woman IT professional from Bengaluru filed a complaint alleging she lost Rs 31.83 crore, believed to be the highest amount lost by a single victim in Karnataka, to "digital arrest" over six months. Bengaluru East Cyber Crime, Economic Offences and Narcotics (CEN) police registered an FIR based on her complaint on November 14.

Also read: Bengaluru’s largest digital-arrest scam: Woman techie held for 6 months, loses Rs 32 cr in 187 transactions

“The golden hour is a major factor. As soon as a complaint is registered, it becomes easier to trace the culprits and recover the stolen amount but most culprits now use mule accounts to transfer large sums across multiple accounts within minutes, making recovery extremely time-consuming,” a senior police officer told Moneycontrol:

Culprits use innocent people’s accounts as mule accounts, promising them a fixed monthly income. “They convince them that the government is depositing monthly aid into their accounts, while the fraudsters use these accounts to transfer money,” the officer said.

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows that Bengaluru reported the highest number of cybercrime cases in the country, with 17,631 out of 21,889 cases registered in Karnataka during 2023, up from 9,940 in 2022. The IT capital reported 6,423 cases in 2021.

Also read: Karnataka online trading frauds: Losses skyrocket from Rs 23 crore in 2022 to Rs 903 crore by mid-2024

Recovery remains low

While the city police detected 8,144 cases and issued lien markings worth Rs 1,061 crore to freeze fraudulent accounts, only Rs 312 crore could be recovered, of which Rs 286 crore was returned to victims over the last three years.

As many as 1,348 people were arrested over the three-year period — 458 in 2023, 480 in 2024 and 410 in 2025. Despite the arrests, investigators say cyber fraud networks operate across states and even international borders, which complicates efforts to trace digital money trails and secure convictions. Police authorities have urged citizens to report incidents immediately through the 1930 helpline to improve recovery chances.