Hyderabad: Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) Director Shikha Goyal said on Monday that there has been an 18 percent increase in cyber crime complaints this year. This year there were 1,14,174 cases, compared to 91,652 in 2023.
Establishment of seven cyber crime police stations and creation of 1930 call centers which helped in freezing fraudulent transactions worth ₹ 244.56 crore. About Rs 176.71 crore has been refunded to 17,411 victims this year.
The bureau has arrested 21 people involved in cyber crime across the state. This campaign was led by Shikha Goyal, reinforcing the zero tolerance policy against cyber criminals. They targeted criminals in Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Rachakonda, Karimnagar and Jagtial.
The suspects were involved in 25 cyber crimes within Telangana and 73 cases nationwide. Those arrested include people from various professions like delivery workers, gym trainers, real estate agents and private employees. They were allegedly involved in schemes like business investment, KYC fraud, part-time job scam and marriage fraud. Agents made criminal connections to 714 suspects and 325 cybercrime hotspots nationwide.
Among those arrested, 13 people used their bank accounts to withdraw Rs 8.2 crore through cyber crime. The remaining eight collected the money by acting as agents and transferred it to their counterparts abroad via crypto currency. The bureau has identified five related crypto wallets and is conducting further investigations to trace the financial flows.
Telangana was among the top five states in converting cyber crime complaints into FIRs with 24,643 FIRs registered this year. The TGCSB also conducted 20,677 cyber crime awareness campaigns and operations across Rajasthan and Telangana, arresting 75 cyber criminals in connection with 4,000 cases nationwide. The Bureau’s innovative tools like CyCaps and ICACCOPS, training programs for 850 cyber warriors, and the establishment of Child Protection Unit (CPU), Cyber Academies have boosted efforts against online exploitation. TGCSB also contributed to the central SAMANWAY portal and developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Cyber Crime Investigation.
The TGCSB has urged citizens to be vigilant against cyber fraud and report any suspicious activities they come to know through the TGCSB Helpline 1930 or. cybercrime.gov.in.