Cyber crime surge: 30,000 Indians lose ₹1,500 crore in investment scams

New Delhi: More than 30,000 people have fallen victim to investment scams across India’s major cities over the past six months, resulting in financial losses exceeding ₹1,500 crore, according to a report by the Ministry of Home Affairs’ cyber wing. Most victims were aged between 30 and 60, with Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad accounting for nearly 65 per cent of the cases.

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) identified Bengaluru as the city suffering the most severe financial impact, representing more than a quarter (26.38 per cent) of the total losses.

These urban centres have emerged as key hotspots for cybercriminals preying on unsuspecting investors. The data shows that the majority of victims fall within the working-age population, with those aged 30 to 60 making up over 76 per cent of all targeted individuals, a trend suggesting that scammers exploit the financial aspirations of people in their prime earning years.

Senior citizens are also increasingly being targeted, accounting for 8.62 per cent of victims, around 2,829 people aged 60.

The scams involve significant sums of money, with the average loss per victim standing at approximately ₹51.38 lakh, underscoring the sophistication and scale of these fraudulent schemes. Delhi recorded the highest per capita losses, with each victim losing an average of ₹8 lakh.

Cybercriminals employ a range of digital platforms to conduct their scams, with messaging apps and social media playing a central role.

The report highlights that Telegram and WhatsApp together account for roughly 20 per cent of all cases. Their encrypted nature and ease of group creation make them particularly appealing to fraudsters.

By contrast, professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter are rarely used, representing just 0.31 per cent of incidents. Instead, scammers favour more informal, direct communication channels.

Another significant finding is that the largest category of scam platforms is listed as “Other”, making up 41.87 per cent of all cases, suggesting that a wide range of lesser-known or unidentified platforms are being used to target victims.