In 2020, Noida saw most cases of cyber frauds in the Uttar Pradesh

NOIDA: At 1,585, Gautam Budh Nagar has seen the highest number of cybercrimes in the state in 2020, when a majority of people confined to homes because of the lockdown shifted to online transactions to order anything from groceries to garments.
According to a recent report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), GB Nagar is followed by Lucknow, Prayagraj, Ghaziabad and Varanasi in terms of the number of cybercrime cases.While Lucknow reported as many as 1,465 cases, Prayagraj saw 1,102. Neighbouring Ghaziabad registered 896 cases in 2020, followed by Varanasi at 564.

The NCRB data shows that in most of these areas, street crimes came down last year as few people were out on the roads because of the lockdown. Of the 1,585 online fraud cases lodged in Noida, 803 were computer-related offences, 307 were lodged under Section 66 of the IT Act (sending out grossly offensive messages), 51 were cases of ransomware attack and 371 were forgeries.
Similarly, there were 288 cases of cheating through online platforms.
Many victims of cyber frauds have told TOI that the most difficult part was to register a complaint and pursue the case with police. While frauds using OTP-based transactions — where the victim is lured into sharing the one-time password — is one of the most common methods, the 2020 data did not have a single case lodged under this category in Noida. There was no case related to data theft either. A total of 25 cases were registered for online banking frauds and 19 related to debit/credit cards.
Additional DCP (central Noida) Ankur Aggarwal, who is also the in-charge of the cyber cell in Noidal, told TOI that many of these cases had been included in other categories. “Usually, cases are lodged in categories such as online banking frauds, frauds via credit card, etc,” he added.
Sources said the 2020 stats for data theft may have been lodged under “ransomware” or similar categories. Data theft often amounts to violation of privacy, which has been showing an increasing trend. In 2020, there were 496 cases of social media accounts being hacked and 29 cases of cyber stalking of women and children. In several instances, Facebook and Instagram profiles of police officers, politicians and individuals were hacked and money sought in their names.
Sources in the police admitted that the rising number of cybercrimes was worrisome but agreed that the force lacked infrastructure to solve the cases in time.
A major cause for concern in the Noida cyber cell is the lack of any inspector-rank officer, who are authorised to carry out probes in cases of online frauds that are lodged under the IT Act. The cyber cell, sources said, has only 15-16 sub-inspector and constable rank officers.
The GB Nagar police commissionerate has sought permission from the UP Police headquarters to enhance the capacity of the cyber cell. The commissionerate is believed to have proposed that around 150 cops be included in the cyber cell along with an ACP-level officer. In the absence of senior officers, complaints lodged with the cyber cell are usually referred to the local police stations, the sources said.
“The case then lingers on. Since a lot of paperwork is involved in such cases, it often slows down the probe,” a police officer said.