Telangana loses ₹4 crore–₹5 crore daily to cyber fraud; 60% via fake trading scams
Hyderabad: People in Telangana are losing between ₹4 crore and ₹5 crore every day to cyber criminals, and nearly 60 per cent of that money is lost to stock-trading and investment frauds, a senior police official has said.
Shikha Goel, Principal Secretary (Home) and Director of the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau, shared the figures while speaking at a cybersecurity symposium in Madhapur on Tuesday. She also said that ₹455 crore lost to cyber fraudsters had been recovered over the past two years.
The officer said organised cybercrime networks now depend more on human behaviour than on technical weaknesses in systems. Instead of breaking into accounts, they build trust, and then persuade victims to transfer money themselves.
These networks have also grown more sophisticated. Many operate from countries such as Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia, working across multiple locations and time zones. Tracing and reaching the people who actually control these operations is therefore difficult, Ms. Goel said.
Some syndicates run full call centres staffed by people who speak the language of the group they are targeting. "Cybercrime is one of the most organised crimes. At the same time, it is also one of the most preventable crimes," she said, noting that fear, greed and a lack of awareness often leave people vulnerable.
Her advice to citizens was simple: pause, think and verify before acting on any request for money or personal information.
The discussion, titled 'When Trust Becomes the Weapon – The New Battle for the Human Mind', drew more than 200 participants and also examined the growing role of artificial intelligence in cyber threats.
Cyber-law expert and Supreme Court advocate Pavan Duggal cautioned against excessive dependence on AI for everyday decisions. Outsourcing tasks and judgement to technology, he argued, could gradually weaken people's ability to think for themselves.
Cybersecurity expert Jiten Jain advised people to treat their mobile numbers as sensitive personal information rather than sharing them routinely at shops and billing counters. Such details, he said, can become an entry point for social-engineering and identity fraud.
In her opening remarks, Shruti Mallpani, managing trustee of the symposium, said the real battle was not about technology but about human judgement. The aim of the forum, she said, was to help citizens understand emerging threats and make safer choices online.
The event also saw the release of cybersecurity awareness videos and material prepared with the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau. Organisers said the initiative had reached about 2.95 lakh pensioners and more than three lakh serving employees across the State.
The pattern seen in Telangana is part of a wider trend, in which investment and trading scams — often promoted through social media groups and messaging apps — account for a large share of reported cyber fraud losses. Victims of financial cyber fraud in India can report the matter on the national helpline 1930 or the portal cybercrime.gov.in. Officials say early reporting matters, because the chances of tracing and freezing the money fall sharply with delay.
