From Mewat to Jamtara, cybercrime trail drains Rs 30 Cr in 2.5 years in Southwest Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Reeling under an unrelenting wave of cybercrime, residents of Southwest Delhi have already lost about Rs 30 crore in a span of more than two-and-a-half years, with online trading scams and fake job offers emerging as the biggest traps for unsuspecting victims aged between 18 and 44 years.

Police data also highlights key cybercrime hotspots across the country that continue to fuel frauds in Delhi. The Mewat region, covering Bharatpur and Mathura, is notorious for sextortion rackets and hotel-booking scams. Jharkhand's Jamtara and Deoghar districts are infamous for KYC and credit card reward-point scams. Rajasthan's Jodhpur and Barmer, along with parts of Gujarat, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, are identified as major centres for supplying mule accounts used to channel stolen funds.

According to the data, the cyber police in Southwest district has registered 90 cases this year till September 4, with fraudsters duping people of Rs 5,07,68,452 (Rs 5.07 crore). Police said 56 of these cases have been solved, leading to the arrest of 147 accused and recovery of Rs 2,27,45,256 (Rs 2.27 crore). Out of these, 42 cases pertain to incidents reported in 2025, while some older cases dating back to 2021 and 2022 have also been worked out.

The trend of rising cybercrime was reflected in previous years as well. In 2024, police recorded 112 cases and solved 57. The victims lost Rs 15.8 crore that year, while an amount of Rs 4.83 crore was recovered. In 2023, 100 cases were lodged and 42 solved, with losses amounting to Rs 9.05 crore and a recovery of just Rs 36 lakh. Arrests too have risen steadily -- 185 people were held in 2024, compared to 105 in 2023.

Police said of the 90 cases registered so far this year, online trading scams account for the maximum with 25 instances, followed by 12 cases of fake job offers. There have also been nine cases of debit and credit card frauds or SIM-swap frauds, seven incidents of "digital arrest" scams and six each of cyberbullying and electricity bill-related frauds. Other categories include fake profiles on social media, impersonation, matrimonial frauds and identity theft.

"The most vulnerable people are young adults aged between 18 and 44 years, who are frequently targeted through investment fraud, online job offers, phishing, adware and social-media frauds," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Amit Goel said.

Minors aged 12 to 17 years are increasingly facing cyberbullying and sextortion, though such cases often go unreported due to social stigma, he added.

Women, the DCP said, are targeted through harassment involving fake social-media profiles, morphed images and fraudulent work-from-home offers. Senior citizens are soft targets for "digital arrest" scams, where callers impersonating police or enforcement officials threaten victims with arrest to extort money, and electricity-bill frauds.

Explaining the modus operandi, officials said fake job offers, phishing e-mails and malicious mobile applications (APK files) are among the most common tools deployed by cybercriminals. Sextortion rackets lure victims through honey traps on social media and dating apps, record compromising videos during video calls and then extort money by threatening to circulate those.

In impersonation cases, fraudsters create fake profiles using victims' names and photos to harass, defame or solicit indecent messages.

A recurring feature in almost all financial cybercrimes, barring hacking, is the use of fraudulent SIM cards and mule bank accounts.

"Funds are often transferred via UPI or IMPS into accounts of unemployed youth, students, daily-wage workers or those whose accounts have been compromised. These account holders, or 'mules', receive a commission of five to 10 per cent for allowing their accounts to be used," the officer added.

Once deposited, the money is either withdrawn in cash or converted into cryptocurrency, such as USDT, through Indian peer-to-peer exchanges. To erase traces, the funds are broken into smaller amounts, routed through mixers or moved across different blockchains, such as Ethereum and Tron. Eventually, the cryptocurrency is transferred to digital wallets controlled by international syndicates operating out of hubs in Dubai, Myanmar and Cambodia, police said.

In Southwest Delhi, the cyber police currently operates with 10 dedicated teams, each led by a sub-inspector. Investigations rely heavily on technical support, such as open-source intelligence, IP-address tracking and advanced financial-fraud-analysis tools. Assistance is also taken from specialised agencies like the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit (IFSO), the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and national-level platforms like the NATGRID.

"Fraudsters are constantly adapting and finding new ways to target unsuspecting citizens. While enforcement is catching up, awareness among people is the strongest shield against cybercrime," the DCP said. PTI SSJ RC