Bhubaneswar: Cybercriminals siphoned off more than Rs 222 crore from 3,486 people in Odisha in just 16 months, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi informed the state Assembly on Monday.
In a written reply to a question from Congress MLA Rama Chandra Kadam, the CM stated that cybercriminals duped people of Rs 2,220,978,647 (Rs 222.09 crore) between August 2023 and November 2024. Of this amount, only Rs 61.36 lakh could be refunded to victims, while Rs 6.74 crore was frozen in the fraudsters’ accounts.
Total of 69 victims were targeted through the increasingly common “digital arrest” scam.
Majhi, who holds the Home portfolio, further stated that 727 persons involved in cyber fraud cases were arrested, and charge-sheets filed in 104 cases.
Police have attributed the low recovery rate to delayed reporting by victims. This despite repeated appeals to immediately dial the national cyber helpline 1930 and report the incident on www.cybercrime.gov.in. Other major challenges include use of mule accounts by fraudsters, who instantly transfer money through multiple layer
s, rapid conversion of funds into cryptocurrency, use of pre-activated SIM cards registered with fake identities and transfers across state borders, where inter-state police and bank coordination is often slow.
In a separate reply, the CM said the government launched a state-wide Cyber Safety Campaign–2025 in October, with 33 police districts actively participating to enhance public awareness on digital security. Key initiatives included 16 mobile “Cyber Raths” covering urban and rural areas, over 120 workshops for students, professionals and the public, and various awareness events (inaugurations, walkathons, cyclothons, seminars, street plays, quizzes and meetings). More than 24 lakh citizens participated in the campaign, he added.