Жители Тричи потеряли более 102 млн рупий из-за кибермошенничеств в первом полугодии 2026 года

TRICHY: Residents of Trichy city have lost Rs 10.2 crore to cyber frauds in the first eight months of 2026, with e-challan scams emerging as a growing concern alongside investment fraud, digital arrest and online impersonation scams. The city has recorded 1,606 cybercrime complaints so far this year, including more than 1,200 cases of financial fraud. In 2025, around 2,300 people reported losing Rs 25 crore to cyber fraud . E-challan scams have more than tripled in terms of complaints this year. While 36 people reported losses of Rs 37 lakh in such scams in 2025, at least 125 people have lost more than ₹80 lakh till August this year. In a recent case from KK Nagar, a resident, Vijay Kumar (name changed), downloaded an app after receiving a WhatsApp message from an unknown number claiming that fines were pending against his vehicle. The link, labelled “RTO e-challan.apk”, prompted him to grant permissions, including access to text messages, screen monitoring and banking OTPs. Nearly Rs 2 lakh was withdrawn from his wife Padmini’s (name changed) savings account within hours. Trichy City Police have urged residents to pay vehicle fines only through official government portals and not download apps received through messages from unknown numbers. “We advise citizens not to download any suspicious apps mentioned in message links sent from unknown numbers claiming to relate to vehicle fine payments,” Commissioner N Kamini said. Police have issued 798 Community Service Registers (CSRs) and registered 43 FIRs based on the complaints received this year. Recovery, however, remains a challenge. Police have frozen around 500 scam-linked accounts involving transactions of more than Rs 1 crore and recovered about Rs 70 lakh. They are working to recover the remaining amount. Officials attributed the low recovery rate to delays in reporting fraud, the complexity of the scams, fraudsters operating from outside the city and staff shortages in the cybercrime unit. Investment frauds, meanwhile, have declined significantly. Around 80 people have lost approximately Rs 2.5 crore to such frauds so far this year, compared with more than Rs 14 crore lost by about 400 people in 2025. Police attributed the decline to sustained awareness campaigns. The scams include pyramid schemes, fake stock-trading and cryptocurrency platforms, and fraudulent investment apps. Cybercrime officials said more than 95% of social media accounts posing as institutional traders and soliciting investments are fraudulent. Victims have included college professors, doctors, businessmen and traders. Police have also reported cases involving the theft of personal data. “We urge residents to stay vigilant against such crimes to help combat cyber fraud effectively,” Kamini said. Digital arrest and online impersonation scams remain major concerns, with senior citizens particularly vulnerable to such frauds. Cybercrime cases in the city have risen steadily since the Cybercrime Cell was inaugurated in 2021, crossing 1,000 cases annually in recent years. The city recorded more than 1,200 cases in 2023, over 1,400 in 2024 and more than 2,300 in 2025. With four months still remaining in the year, the number has already reached 1,606. The city police recently inaugurated a Cyber Help Desk at the Cybercrime Police Station to assist victims of online fraud and related banking issues.