Navi Mumbai man loses Rs 28 lakh in cyber fraud offering 'high' returns in gold trading

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A 30-year-old resident from Navi Mumbai fell victim to a cyber scam, losing nearly Rs 28 lakh after being enticed into gold trading, promising lucrative returns, police told PTI on Friday.

According to the report, the resident of Nerul filed a complaint, claiming that people had gotten in touch with him and promised him big returns if he traded gold on their website. Between October and November of this year, he gave over Rs 28.35 lakh after giving in to their pressure.

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Disappointed that he had not received any returns or received his invested money back, the man went to the cyber police in Navi Mumbai on Thursday to ask for help. No arrests have been made despite a case being filed against the owners of three mobile numbers and a website host, an official confirmed.

The data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals a concerning increase in cybercrime incidents across Mumbai and Maharashtra, which contrasts sharply with the general decline in Indian Penal Code (IPC) cases nationwide in 2022, stated a report.

According to the report, Mumbai, the financial capital, saw a staggering 64.5 per cent increase in cybercrime cases, rising from 2,883 in 2021 to 4,724 in 2022. Maharashtra as a whole saw an alarming increase in cybercrime, rising from 5,562 to 8,249 cases during the same period. The majority of these cases (64.8 per cent) were attributed to fraud, with other motives including extortion (5.5 per cent) and sexual exploitation (5.2 per cent).

The report shows a broader trend across 19 metropolitan cities, with a 42.7 per cent increase in cybercrime cases in 2022, totalling 24,420 cases compared to 17,115 cases the previous year. Bengaluru had the most cybercrime incidents (9,940), followed by Mumbai with 4,724 cases. Chargesheet rates differed by city, with Bengaluru at 22.6 per cent, Mumbai at 16.6 per cent, Hyderabad at 25.4%, and New Delhi at 89.3 per cent.

Out of the 5,610 cases registered in Maharashtra in 2022, cases involving offences against the state increased by 8.6 per cent, with a majority (78.5 per cent) under The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (4,403 cases) and 17.9 per cent under The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Surprisingly, despite the rise in cybercrime, the national crime scene saw a decrease in IPC and Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes. In 2022, the total number of cognizable crimes decreased by 4.5 per cent, with IPC crimes decreasing by 2.8 per cent and SLL crimes decreasing by 7.0 per cent compared to the previous year. As a result, the crime rate per lakh population fell from 445.9 to 422.2.

Despite this national trend, the 19 metropolitan cities reported a 10.4 per cent decrease in registered crimes in 2022. In Mumbai, IPC crimes decreased by 1.7 per cent, while SLL crimes decreased by 27.4 per cent when compared to 2021. Theft remained the most common IPC crime category, accounting for 44.6 per cent of all cases, followed by reckless driving on public roads (10.5 per cent) and disobeying orders issued by public servants (7.0 per cent).