Virtual Hole In Kerala’s Pocket: Cyberfrauds Swindle ₹2cr Daily

As 2025, a year defined by high-value cyber heists, comes to a close, the financial toll of cybercrime on Kerala has reached a tipping point. As of Dec, Keralites lost a whopping ₹775 crore to cybercriminals this year — over ₹2 crore daily on an average — according to statistics from the state cyber operations unit.The state is no longer just seeing a rise in case count but witnessing a consistent drainage of its private wealth. These frauds often wiped the affluents' savings accounts clean, with many losing their entire retirement savings.This year saw some of the largest individual losses in state's history. A pharmaceutical businessman in Kochi was defrauded of ₹24.76 crore after being lured into a fake "trading" portal. Similarly, a 77-year-old woman, also from Kochi, was systematically stripped of ₹6.3 crore over a two-month period. These were not isolated incidents but part of a rising tide of high-stakes financial crimes targeting numerous residents across the state.Cognitive warfare was the dominant strategy deployed by scammers this year. As opposed to traditional cybercrime which relied on technical vulnerabilities — such as sending links and using harmful applications to hack devices — swindlers shifted their focus to hacking the human mind. Instead of hunting for weak passwords, these fraudsters target the victim's psychology, specifically their sense of fear, social standing and trust in authority.Despite massive awareness campaigns against "digital arrest" fraud, many residents — especially the elderly — continue to fall into the trap. In these schemes, victims are kept under constant video surveillance via WhatsApp or Skype, a tactic that leaves them bankrupt and inflicts severe psychological trauma. Scammers appear as uniformed officers, creating a high-pressure "virtual prison" to convince victims that they are implicated in money laundering or narcotics cases. The cruelty of this method lies in its longevity. By keeping the victim isolated and fearful, fraudsters carry out dozens of transactions over weeks or months before the victim realizes the truth.Cyber Suraksha Foundation co-founder Adv Feroze Desikan said that the perpetrators target individuals with substantial bank balances, predominantly NRIs or retirees holding significant savings."These cybercriminals had accessed databases of such individuals. Instances of ordinary citizens being targeted with digital arrest threats are comparatively rare; instead, the calls are reaching people capable of paying out massive sums. This indicates that syndicates are operating with curated data rather than making random calls," Desikan said.He further noted that the frequency of investment fraud was also high in 2025. "These schemes utilised sophisticated replicas of applications and webpages belonging to established investment firms. They even credited initial returns to the victim's account to build a false sense of credibility. However, once a substantial amount was invested, the user was abruptly blocked. Everyone from young professionals just starting their careers to seasoned earners fell for this trap," he added.He also mentioned that impersonation of bank officials persisted as a threat in 2025, though the volume of such cases was not as big as other scams. The year also saw the police exposing the large Mule Account Network that facilitated such large-scale scams. The statewide Operation Cy-Hunt highlighted the magnitude of this problem, leading to the arrest of nearly 300 individuals. The accused included those who illegally gained financial benefits by withdrawing defrauded money through cheques and ATMs as well as others who rented out their bank accounts for a commission. The police are now gearing up for another phase of this operation."Despite massive awareness campaigns, many individuals are still not well equipped to counter these frauds. Residents' associations and pensioners' groups also need to take up the task of addressing the elderly and retired officials directly to educate them further about these threats," said a senior officer with the state police cyber operations unit.Cybercrime investigator Dr Pattathil Dhanya Menon notes that many seniors are deeply fearful of social stigma. "Many seniors do not have anyone nearby to consult when confronted with such a situation, yet they often possess significant financial independence. Many are targeted with claims that they are implicated in Pocso cases, anti-national activities or have multiple fraudulent passports in their name. Highly educated individuals with high social status often feel they cannot let anyone else know the predicament," she said.Menon added that even in investment fraud, many realise they are losing money but continue paying, hoping they could recover some returns before the loss is discovered by others. The realisation often comes too late.