Tamil Nadu: In Coimbatore, cyber fraud losses exceeded Rs 87 crore in 2025; recovery was less than 10%.
Tamil Nadu: Residents of the city lost an astounding Rs 87.16 crore to cyber fraudsters in 2025, despite the Coimbatore municipal police and the Tamil Nadu government’s persistent cyber safety awareness initiatives. This underscores the complexity of internet scams and the difficulties encountered by law enforcement.
The cybercrime branch got 9,960 complaints last year, according to a statement from the municipal police. Of these, 7,779 incidents included online financial fraud, which included social engineering schemes, harmful mobile apps, phishing, and phony links.
Even though the entire loss was Rs 87.16 crore, authorities were only able to collect Rs 7.65 crore, which is less than 10% of the total. During the year, police held eight individuals under the Goondas Act after making 60 arrests in relation to different cybercrime offenses.
In contrast, the cybercrime police jailed nine criminals under the same Act in 2024 after making 50 arrests.
According to officials, scammers still take advantage of people’s faith in digital platforms and government processes to trick them. One such instance included a city dweller who got a WhatsApp message pretending to be a traffic violation notice and requesting that they pay a fee of Rs 1,000.
A link in the message asked the user to download an app that looked like the official transport department app. The victim downloaded the file because they thought the mail was authentic. One lakh rupees was embezzled from the bank account in a matter of minutes.
“I never thought my funds could be destroyed by a straightforward notification about a traffic fine. The victim then complained to the police, saying, “It came with official logos and looked completely authentic.”
Bank transaction traces and account information are important leads in cybercrime investigations, according to a top cybercrime police investigator.
“Banks must provide information in a timely manner. According to the officer, every delay hinders investigations and drastically lowers the likelihood of freezing or retrieving stolen funds.
The official also emphasized the need of more stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. Mule accounts made possible by inadequate verification processes facilitate a lot of scams. The foundation of financial cybercrimes is these accounts. The officer went on to say, “Banks must tighten KYC checks when opening accounts.”
To increase the likelihood of recovery, police advised the public to avoid downloading programs from unidentified sites, confirm the legitimacy of official communications, and report suspected fraud right away.