Over 1000 complaints of financial fraud cases registered in J&K last year

Srinagar, Feb 7: Over 1000 complaints of financial fraud cases amounting to more than Rs 780 lakhs have been registered by Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System in Jammu and Kashmir last year.

As per the official data accessed by the news agency —Kashmir News Observer (KNO), 1046 cases of financial fraud have been registered in the Union Territory last year. These complaints amount to Rs 786.56 lakh.

The ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’ was set up under the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ by the Ministry of Home Affairs to report financial fraud.

Data further reveals that 253 cases of financial frauds were put on hold with a lien amount of Rs 62.55 lakhs.

Figures further reveal that a total of 1.13 million cases of financial cyber fraud were reported in 2023 in India.

Uttar Pradesh was at the top with around 200,000 cases, the highest across 36 states and union territories. Next was Maharashtra with 130,000 complaints reported, followed by Gujarat (120,000), Rajasthan and Haryana (80,000 each). Lakshadweep was at the bottom with 29 cases.

Officials said that frauds including UPI, Digital Banking and Credit Card and QR Code are some of the commonest financial frauds registered in Jammu and Kashmir.

“In Jammu and Kashmir, we witnessed that a lot of people fall prey to financial frauds. Apart from these frauds, scams related to employment and social media are also being registered in Jammu and Kashmir,” they said.

Officials said they have been constantly raising awareness among the public through various mediums to protect themselves from such frauds.

“We make use of social media and the press to make people aware of such frauds. People are being constantly informed not to share bank details, ATM pins and OTPs with anyone and to avoid clicking on suspicious links,” they said.

Pertinently, a new study by an IIT Kanpur-incubated start-up revealed that financial frauds accounted for over 75 percent of cybercrimes in the country from January 2020 till June 2023, with nearly 50 percent cases related to UPI and internet banking.

—(KNO)