Odisha Ranks 9th In Cybercrime; Victims Duped Of Rs 96 Lakh In 23 Months

Bhubaneswar: Odisha ranks ninth in the country in cybercrime. The recent Home Ministry report revealed that cybercriminals had duped people of more than Rs 96 lakh in Odisha in the last 23 months.

In June this year, the cybercriminals attempted to dupe 976 people and 259 among them fell victim to the fraudsters. While Rs 79,996 was fraudulently withdrawn from the accounts of the victims in June, the total amount looted in the last five months was Rs 7,62,371.

Sources in the Home Ministry said there are about 350 cybercriminals in the country and these hackers mostly belong to Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

According to Odisha police, cybercrime cases increased by an alarming 31% in the state in 2020 as compared to 2019. Altogether 1931 cases were registered last year against 1475 cases in 2019.

Most of the cybercrime cases were reported during the COVID-induced lockdown, which saw increased dependency on online banking, making people vulnerable to cyber frauds.

In some cases, the victims, who were not conversant with online transactions, shared their passwords after being tricked by the cybercrooks, the police said.