Lack of staff hinders cyber sleuths’ online fraud fight

Thiruvananthapuram: The investigation into cybercrime cases in the city has come to a halt due to a severe staff shortage at the cyber wing, despite a rise in such crimes.
Currently, the cyber station has only five officers, including a DSP and four circle inspectors, and the cyber cell has just four CPO-ranked officers, struggling to handle thousands of cases.With the current staffing levels, the cyber wing is unable to investigate even 1% of the reported crimes.
A proposal to appoint 50 CPO-level officers to the cyber police station and 15 to the cyber cell is pending before the govt. Meanwhile, hundreds of city residents await the recovery of their lost money from cyber frauds. Officials revealed that the cyber wing operates with less than 10% of the necessary manpower. “The wing recently acquired advanced cyber forensic tools, cyber analytic tools, mobile forensic tools, and a CDR analyzer, there is insufficient staff to utilize them effectively,” said an official.
Investigating a typical cybercrime case requires a team of at least nine specially trained CPOs and a CI or DSP rank officer to travel to various states, as each case involves multiple banking transactions across different regions. Due to the limited staff, the cyber wing can barely manage routine tasks, often relying on officers from the control room and AR Camp for emergency duties.
This understaffing is a major reason for the low conviction rate, with less than 1% of cybercrimes being resolved by the cyber team. Cybercrime cases have surged from 2,888 in 2020 to over 6,000 in 2023, with nearly 2,000 reported so far this year. In 2021, 4,352 cases were registered, increasing to nearly 5,500 in 2022.
Fraudsters have stolen Rs 30 crore from nearly a thousand victims in the city up to April this year. In 2023, the total loss was Rs 50 crore, and in 2022, it was Rs 10 crore. Despite these alarming figures, the government has not taken sufficient action to bolster the cyber wing.
An official said that a Chinese lobby is orchestrating these frauds, targeting victims through social media by analyzing their profession, financial status, and personal life. “The victims, often doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, govt officials, non-resident Indians, and businessmen, are then contacted and defrauded through well-planned schemes,” said the official.