Hyderabad: Hyderabad city police commissioner C.V. Anand said Wednesday that of a daily average of 100 FIRs being filed in his jurisdiction, 50 percent pertain to cybercrime. Specifically, half of these are pure cybercrime — such as harassment using loan apps, phishing, and hacking cases — while the rest have some sort of digital link.
Speaking at the Hyderabad Annual Cyber Security Knowledge Summit Wednesday — with Telangana home minister Mahmood Ali also present — Anand said the Hyderabad cyber crimes department, working under the commissioner, had identified 18 types of cybercrime.
Speaking to ThePrint, he said, “These FIRs are not just cases pertaining to Hyderabad alone, but (other) parts of the state and even other states. We’re freely booking FIRs as and when we get a complaint from any part of the country. Other states do not register that way. In several states, they do not register cybercrimes till date; they’re unaware of how to investigate such cases, that’s the level of awareness.”
“In fact, my team tells me that 90 per cent of the crime cases we deal with have some sort of tech or a digital connection. Even if it is a murder, the accused sometimes could have traced the location of the victim, so that’s use of tech” he added.
Asserting that the scenario of crime is changing rapidly, Anand said there has been a drastic reduction in petty crimes such as chain snatching or barging into someone’s house for robbery — but a very significant increase in cyber crime, so much so that the Hyderabad cyber crimes police station is “unable to handle the load,” with its current infrastructure.
“50 percent of cybercrimes reported in the country are being registered/booked in Telangana only,” he said, citing examples of how the Hyderabad police had solved cybercrime cases beyond their jurisdiction.
The Cyberabad police, who handle the city’s IT hub areas along with others, had reported a data theft a fortnight ago where the personal data of 67 crore people was allegedly stolen and was being misused.
Hyderabad and the surrounding areas (including parts of a few neighbouring districts) are monitored by three commissionerates. The Hyderabad Police Commissionerate headed by Anand is one, and the others are the Rachakonda Police Commissionerate and the Cyberabad Police Commissionerate.
‘Loan app frauds most dangerous’
Anand also said Wednesday that loan app fraud cases are the most dangerous type of cybercrime.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have seen a spate of suicides over the past year, allegedly following harassment by loan app companies, with hundreds of such complaints registered in districts annually.
According to Anand, the modus operandi in these cases is largely the same. First, the fraudsters entice a person with loans, and when the individual downloads the app, they get access to his or her personal details such as contacts and photos. Then, if the person is unable to pay back the exorbitant interest on the loans, they’re harassed with their own photos morphed in an explicit manner, with messages being sent to families.
Last year, the Telangana government had raised an alarm with the Reserve Bank of India about such cases. Citing data from the National Crime Reporting Portal, the government said that criminal cases related to fraudulent loan apps had increased by more than 1,300 per cent to 900 in 2022, from 61 in 2021. In the same period, a total of 107 FIRs were filed and at least eight people had died by suicide, it added.
In an attempt to counter this trend, CV Anand said the Hyderabad City Security Council would go to schools, colleges and educational institutions to spread awareness to students about all kinds of cybercrimes, especially loan app fraud, which has targeted many young people.
Hyderabad City Security Council is an organisation formed under the ambit of the Hyderabad police, and includes representatives of governments and private organisations working in the technology sector.
Also read: Why are cybercrime convictions low in India? ‘Weak forensics, dark net & cross-border attacks’