The Karnataka Government on Tuesday said that residents of the state had lost Rs 5,473.97 crore in 57,733 cybercrime cases in the past three years but managed to recover only 11.5 per cent of it.
Home Minister G Parameshwara, responding to the question raised in the Assembly by MLA Cement Manju, further said the number of cases reported in 2025 till November 15 had reduced by nearly 42.2 per cent from 2024.
“We have created 43 Cybercrime Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police stations across the state, and considering it, the number of cases has dropped, but there has been no significant difference in the money lost,” Parameshwara said.
In the past three years, Karnataka lost Rs 6.05 crore every day on average to cybercrime but recovered only Rs 60 lakh every day. Going by the data, in 2023, victims had a one in five chance of recovering some of the lost money. But by 2025, this has plummeted to one in 16 chance.
Manju said the national cybercrime helpline, 1930, was not of much help. “By the time someone reports a cybercrime and answers all the questions asked, the crucial moments to recover the money are lost. The Government must think of starting its own helpline,” he added.
Parameshwara said that the Karnataka Government had established a cyber command centre, which is the first of its kind, and that awareness about cybercrime was being raised among the public.
“Cybercrime is a challenge globally. Using technology, people sitting in other states and countries loot money. We are taking measures to prevent it,” he added.
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A police officer said that, going by a projection, the state may report somewhere between 15,600-16,000 cybercrime cases this year. Asked why the amount lost is significant despite the fall in the number of cases, the officer said a lot of people had lost money in stock trading and “digital arrest” scams.
“Cybercrimes have evolved over a period of time. Cryptocurrency-related frauds have reduced, but job scams and matrimonial frauds have continued. Earlier, the loss used to be relatively lower and the crime time used to be shorter. But with ‘digital arrest’ and stock trading scams increasing, people are cheated over many hours or even days,” the officer added.
This year, Bengaluru city has reported 9,326 cybercrime cases, and only 716 of them have been solved. The total amount of money thus lost is Rs 1,543 crore.
2023
Total number of cases: 22,255
Total cases of recovery: 6,159
Total amount lost: Rs 872,39,02,700
Total amount recovered: Rs 177 crore
Recovery in percentage: 27.7 per cent
Money recovery in percentage: 20.3 per cent
2024
Total number of cases: 22,478
Total cases of recovery: 3,549
Total amount lost: Rs 2,562,63,20,830
Total amount recovered: 323 crore
Recovery in percentage: 15.8 per cent
Money recovery in percentage: 12.6 per cent
2025 (till November 15)
Total number of cases: 13,000
Total cases of recovery: 1,009
Total amount lost: Rs 2,038,84,76,262
Total amount recovered: 127 crore
Recovery in cases percentage: 7.8 per cent
Money recovery in percentage: 6.2 per cent