Despite repeated warnings and awareness campaigns, residents of Coimbatore fell victim to cyber fraudsters to the tune of a massive Rs 87.16 crore in the year 2025. The city's cybercrime police were inundated with complaints, revealing a grim picture of digital vulnerability.
A Staggering Number of Complaints and Low Recovery Rate
The Coimbatore cybercrime police station registered a total of 9,960 complaints in 2025. A deep dive into the data shows that the overwhelming majority, 7,779 cases, were specifically linked to online financial fraud. While the financial loss was monumental, the recovery efforts managed to retrieve only Rs 7.65 crore, which translates to a recovery rate of less than 10%.
In their efforts to combat this surge, law enforcement arrested 60 individuals in connection with these cybercrime cases. Taking a stringent stance, the police invoked the stringent Goondas Act against eight of these accused. This marks an increase from the previous year, 2024, when 50 cyber criminals were arrested and nine were detained under the Goondas Act.
How Cybercriminals Are Deceiving Citizens
Fraudsters are employing increasingly sophisticated and convincing methods to trap unsuspecting victims. A recent case highlights their modus operandi. Sathish Kumar, a 45-year-old resident of Irugur, received a WhatsApp message on July 17 claiming he had committed a traffic violation and owed a fine of Rs 1,000.
The message contained a link to download a file named 'mParivahan.apk', purportedly to view the challan details and make the payment. Believing the communication to be from a legitimate government department, Kumar downloaded the file. Shortly after, he discovered that a whopping Rs 1 lakh had been siphoned from his bank account. He subsequently filed a formal complaint with the city cybercrime police.
Police Pinpoint Banking Loopholes
A senior officer from the cybercrime police unit emphasized that bank transaction details are the most critical leads in tracing and solving these financial crimes. The officer pointed out that delays by banks in sharing crucial information significantly slow down investigations and reduce the chances of recovering stolen funds.
Furthermore, the police highlighted a major systemic flaw: lax Know Your Customer (KYC) verification during account opening. This oversight, they stated, facilitates the creation of mule accounts, which are essentially bank accounts used to receive and transfer illicit money. These accounts form the backbone of financial cybercrime networks, allowing fraudsters to quickly move and launder stolen funds.
The alarming statistics from Coimbatore serve as a stark reminder that while digital adoption grows, cyber hygiene and institutional cooperation, particularly from the banking sector, need to be strengthened drastically to protect citizens from sophisticated online predators.
