Cyber Crime Rises in Odisha: 629 Victims Lose Rs 85 Lakh In March

Like all the states of the country, even Odisha has seen a sharp rise in cases of cybercrime. In March, 629 people in the state lost a total of Rs 84.78 lakh to various cyber frauds.

On Thursday, the Commissionerate Police’s Cyber Help Desk said that police had recovered over Rs 2 lakh from the fraudsters.

According to sources, 629 people in the state lodged complaints with the Cyber Support Desk in March about cyber crime-related incidents. A total of 310 cyber fraud cases were registered from the State capital alone, out of 629 total.

Senior officer said the majority of victims were duped by scammers by exchanging OTP and UPI codes. After an investigation, however, police were only able to recover Rs 2.53 lakh from the cyber frauds. During the month of March, there were 170 UPI frauds and 80 credit or debit card frauds in the state.

Different criminal syndicates operating out of Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Kerala had called the Orissa residents and duped them. Police were able to stop a few purchases and SIM cards that cybercriminals were using to defraud citizens.

In February 2021, a total of 1,207 people in the state lost over Rs 1.4 crore to various cyber frauds. A total of 368 cyber fraud cases were registered from Bhubaneswar alone, out of a total of 1,207 cases.

In January, the Commissionerate police established a special helpdesk and toll-free number to take prompt action against the offenders.

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