Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis disclosed in a written statement during the current Assembly session in Mumbai that Pune experienced the highest financial losses from cyber fraud in 2024, totaling ₹6,007 crore across 1,504 incidents.
In total, 7,245 cyber fraud cases were reported in Maharashtra’s key cities—Pune, Mumbai, Thane, and Nagpur—resulting in estimated losses of ₹7,132 crore. Mumbai had 4,849 cases with losses of ₹888 crore, Thane recorded 680 cases with ₹174 crore lost, and Nagpur reported 212 cases involving ₹63 crore in fraud.
Pune’s financial losses from cybercrime were nearly five times greater than the combined losses of Mumbai, Thane, and Nagpur, raising alarms among cybersecurity experts and law enforcement. Analysts noted that the fraud amount in Pune surpasses the annual budgets of several municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including Nagpur, Nashik, and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.
Senior police officials explained that Pune’s cyber fraud losses seem disproportionately high due to two significant GST fraud cases totaling ₹5,000 crore and ₹561 crore.
“If we exclude these two cases, the total cyber fraud amount in Pune stands at ₹446 crore, which is actually lower than Mumbai’s ₹888 crore loss,” a senior Pune police officer explained.
Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar stated that law enforcement is focusing on freezing fraudulent bank accounts within the “golden hours” to recover stolen funds.
“We are prioritizing timely intervention to ensure that victims get their money back before cyber fraudsters can withdraw or transfer it,” Kumar said.
The city police previously announced a staggering 776% rise in online scam incidents in 2024 compared to the prior year. To address this growing cyber threat, Kumar pointed out that officers are receiving specialized training to enhance their investigative skills.
Cybercrime specialists argue that insufficient public awareness and slow investigation processes are major factors contributing to the increase in fraud cases.
In discussing measures implemented by the Maharashtra government, CM Fadnavis mentioned the establishment of 50 dedicated cyber police stations throughout the state, staffed with trained personnel to manage these cases.
“We have also set up the ‘Centre of Excellence in Digital Forensic’ in Pune to aid forensic investigations related to cyber frauds,” Fadnavis said.
The state’s Home Department is also working on a semi-automated processing system aimed at accelerating pending investigations and improving the efficiency of cybercrime case analysis. Given the increasing risk of online fraud, officials and experts emphasize the need for public awareness, quicker response times, and more stringent regulatory enforcement to avert future financial losses.
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