Scammers often contact victims via phone or video calls, claiming to be from agencies like the police or cybercrime units, and intimidate them into transferring money to avoid legal consequences.
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Investment scam and Digital Arrest scam are showing a rising trend in cybercrimes reported recently.
Cyber investment scams involves online fraud where criminals deceive individuals into investing money in fake or deceptive opportunities. These schemes often lure victims with promises of extraordinarily high returns, sometimes claiming profits over 100 times the initial investment — an outcome that is virtually impossible.
Common types of cyber investment scams include stock market investment fraud, online trading scams, forex trading schemes, WhatsApp-based trading group frauds, matrimonial investment scams, multi-level marketing (MLM) investment scams, and cryptocurrency investment scams.
The upward trend is clear when comparing the number of investment scams reported between January and August in 2024 and 2025. In 2024, NCRP (National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal) recorded 11,024 investment scams, while in the same period of 2025, the reported cases rose to 13,287.
Digital Arrest Scam comes second in the number of cyber fraud cases reported. Scammers often contact victims via phone or video calls, claiming to be from agencies like the police or cybercrime units, and intimidate them into transferring money to avoid legal consequences. In 2024 until August, the Digital Arrest scams reported in NCRP are 2,762 whereas in 2025 for the same period the numbers reported are 4,439.
Additional Director General of Police, Cyber Crime Wing Sandeep Mittal told The Hindu, ”Analysis of reported cases reveal that undue desire and greed to make quick money in a short time obfuscates rational thinking and common sense resulting in loss of huge sums. As the money is transferred over a period, the entire money quickly exits the banking ecosystem, coupled with late reporting, thus making it impossible to recover the lost money. Tamil Nadu Police has flagged the issue with various stakeholders for devising technological solutions to the issues.”
As cybercrime is still a relatively new concept to many, a large section of the public initially hesitated to file complaints. By actively raising awareness about the importance of reporting incidents while also ensuring confidentiality and anonymity, Cyber Crime Wing has encouraged more victims to come forward and register their cases through 1930 or NCRP.
On average, the 1930 Control Room now handles 1,600 to 1,800 calls per day, whereas in 2024 the daily volume ranged between 600 and 800 calls. The data from 2022 to 2025 reflects a steady increase in the number of registered complaints, which is a positive indicator of growing public trust and awareness in the system. It is anticipated that, over time, this trend will reach a saturation point, after which the rate of new complaints will decline significantly, said Mr. Mittal.
Published – September 14, 2025 05:30 am IST
