Bengaluru recorded 44,177 cybercrime cases from 2023 to 31 October 2025. Citizens lost a total of Rs 4,143 crore during this period.
Financial losses rose sharply from Rs 681 crore in 2023 to Rs 1,996 crore in 2024. These losses were driven by investment scams, phishing attempts, online payment fraud and digital arrest scams. Losses stayed high in 2025 as well and reached Rs 1,466 crore in the first ten months, according to Bengaluru City Police records accessed by a common noun.
On November fourteen, a fifty seven year old woman IT professional from Bengaluru filed a complaint stating that she lost Rs 31.83 crore to digital arrest over six months. This is believed to be the highest amount lost by a single victim in Karnataka. Bengaluru East Cyber Crime Economic Offences and Narcotics police registered an FIR based on her complaint on November fourteen.
A senior police officer told a common noun, “The golden hour is a major factor. As soon as a complaint is registered, it becomes easier to trace the culprits and recover the stolen amount but most culprits now use mule accounts to transfer large sums across multiple accounts within minutes, making recovery extremely time consuming.”
Culprits use accounts belonging to innocent people as mule accounts. They promise them a fixed monthly income. The officer said, “They convince them that the government is depositing monthly aid into their accounts, while the fraudsters use these accounts to transfer money.”
Data from the National Crime Records Bureau shows that Bengaluru reported the highest number of cybercrime cases in the country. The city recorded 17,631 of the 21,889 cases registered in Karnataka during 2023. This was an increase from 9,940 cases in 2022. Bengaluru reported 6,423 cases in 2021.
Recovery remains low
City police detected 8,144 cases and issued lien markings worth Rs 1,061 crore to freeze fraudulent accounts. However, only Rs 312 crore could be recovered. Of this amount, Rs 286 crore was returned to victims over the last three years.
Police arrested 1,348 people in the three year period. This includes 458 arrests in 2023, 480 in 2024 and 410 in 2025. Despite these arrests, investigators say cyber fraud networks work across states and even international borders. This makes it difficult to trace digital money trails and secure convictions. Police authorities have urged citizens to report incidents at once through the 1930 helpline to improve recovery chances.
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