Kolkata witnessed a significant shift in its battle against online financial crime in 2025, with reported losses dropping but still remaining alarmingly high. According to data revealed by the city's police chief, cyber fraudsters siphoned off approximately Rs 210 crore from residents last year.
Improved Recovery Rates and New Tactics
This figure, while staggering, marks a notable decrease from the Rs 279 crore lost in the preceding year, 2024. More impressively, the Kolkata Police managed to recover 30 percent of the stolen amount in 2025, a substantial leap from the mere 10 percent recovery rate achieved in the 2023-24 period.
Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma shared these details on Friday while attending a Pronam function in the Tollygunge area. He credited heightened public awareness campaigns for helping citizens save nearly Rs 60 crore from falling into the hands of scammers. Verma emphasized that continued vigilance and awareness are the most powerful tools to prevent such crimes.
AI Software and Structural Overhaul Boost Efficiency
Behind the improved recovery statistics lies a strategic overhaul of the police's cyber capabilities. Officers reported that the restructuring of the cyber cell, which now includes a dedicated unit focused solely on fund recovery, has yielded positive results. The introduction of new, AI-powered software has been a game-changer, enabling law enforcement to combat a wider array of technology-based crimes, including sophisticated scams like 'digital arrest'.
Building on this momentum, the police have set an ambitious target for the current year: to recover at least 50 percent of all money lost to cyber fraud. However, they acknowledge facing operational hurdles. A senior officer pointed out that non-cooperation from some business entities and slower response times from certain smaller banks, particularly cooperative banks, have created bottlenecks in their investigations.
"We encountered issues where the response time from some cooperative banks was reduced. We plan to hold meetings with key stakeholders soon to develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that will significantly cut down this delay," the officer stated.
Plan for Dedicated Cyber Police Stations in Every Division
In a major infrastructural push, the Kolkata Police is working to establish a dedicated cyber police station in each of its 10 city divisions. Currently, all cybercrime complaints for the city are filed at a single station under the Detective Department. While each division already has a cyber cell for blocking and recovering funds, these units lack the full infrastructure to investigate cases and apprehend suspects.
This new initiative, for which a proposal has been sent to the state home department at Nabanna, aims to fill that critical gap. The planned stations will specifically handle white-collar crimes and cyber offences. However, police sources indicate a potential challenge: a shortage of trained and skilled officers to man these new specialized stations.
The push for better results is clear. Headquarters at Lalbazar has recently instructed all divisional cyber cells to intensify efforts and focus on securing "real recoveries" in cases involving large sums. Furthermore, coordination between the police, financial institutions, and during court proceedings has been identified as an area needing improvement for more successful prosecutions.
Cybercriminals continue to employ a variety of deceptive methods to trap victims. Common tactics include:
- Digital arrest scams
- OTP sharing frauds
- ATM skimming and fraud
- Fake hotel booking schemes
- Aadhaar card-related frauds
Once an individual falls prey to any of these ploys, their bank accounts can be emptied rapidly, underscoring the critical need for the enhanced police measures now being implemented.
