Cyber fraud losses decline in Kolkata, police highlight awareness

Officials stress vigilance and logical thinking to prevent online scams

MP, March 20, 2026, Kolkata:  Kolkata Police has informed that there has been a decrease in the cumulative figure in terms of losses caused by cyber fraud in 2025, compared to the previous year.

According to the Joint Commissioner of Police (Jt. CP), Crime, Rupesh Kumar, in 2024, the citizens of Kolkata who were victimised by cyber fraudsters had lost a cumulative amount of Rs 273 crore, which has gone down to Rs 207 crore in 2025.

In terms of recovery, police claimed that on average 20 per cent of the cheated amount was recovered and returned to a section of citizens who were duped.

However, this figure can go down significantly if people think logically when they receive any call from cyber fraudsters, mentioned a senior Kolkata Police official.

In multiple methods of cyber fraud, such as investment fraud, digital arrest fraud or other similar pretexts, police have often found that the cheated amount was routed through a large number of bank accounts, among which 90 per cent are mule accounts.

While trailing the money flow, police often reach people who do not operate their accounts, as cyber fraudsters hire these accounts and keep the credentials with them.

In return, the account holder gets a negligible amount of money compared to the amount cheated.

However, Kumar claimed that logical thinking and awareness are the only two things which can prevent cyber crimes.

In almost all cybercrime cases, the victims respond to the fraudsters without thinking twice about whether they had actually done anything wrong or contacting an appropriate authority physically.

In cases of digital arrest fraud, police are often seen trying to alert people by spreading the message that there is no such provision in the law.

Also, when people are told about having illegal items in a courier parcel, they do not think twice about whether they have sent any parcel or not.

In almost all digital arrest cases, victims transfer the money by means of RTGS through banks.

Apart from this, the police also get criticised when a large number of victims do not get back their money.

Sources informed that returning money to victims is not an easy task, as after duping people, fraudsters route the cheated amount through a large number of bank accounts.

The portion of money which is found in the primary accounts used to cheat generally gets blocked.

As a cyber fraudster cheats several people, the money which gets blocked in the primary accounts is returned to the victim who lodged a complaint earlier.

As a consequence, many others who were either duped later or filed complaints later usually do not get back their money.