Officials have reported at least one complaint of cybercrime every hour in Himachal Pradesh, which includes cases of UPI fraud, sextortion, and blackmailing. (Pexels)

Protect Yourself from Cybercrime: How HP is Tackling UPI Fraud and Sextortion!

India is receiving praise for its digitalization efforts and the introduction of the groundbreaking digital payment method UPI. However, this digital transformation has also resulted in a rise in UPI fraud and criminal activities. In a worrying development, Himachal Pradesh has witnessed a significant increase in cybercrime complaints. Authorities have disclosed that they are receiving at least one complaint per hour, encompassing instances of UPI fraud, job scams, sextortion, and blackmail. Find out more about the details shared by officials regarding these cybercrime incidents.

Tremendous growth in cybercrime

According to a PTI report, the state recorded 4,593 complaints from January to October 2022, rising to a staggering 8,152 during the same period in 2023. Financial fraud, social networking and miscellaneous complaints increased by 77%, with Mandi, Kangra and Shimla emerging as top targets, according to police data .

A breakdown of cybercrime categories reveals alarming spikes in certain areas. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) fraud skyrocketed from 436 to 1,145, workplace fraud from 234 to 600, sextortion and extortion cases from 162 to 199, and cases involving fake or hacked social media accounts increased from 706 to 1 to 314. Authorities reported that in addition to financial fraud, cybercrime against women has increased in the form of blackmail and threats, stalking, defamation, impersonation, fake profiles and Internet crimes in the form of online gambling and sex crimes against older wealthy men.

Superintendent of Police Bhupinder Negi says this rise is not only due to an increase in cybercrime, but also due to an increase in awareness. Large-scale information campaigns, especially aimed at young people, have encouraged more and more people to come forward and make complaints. SP (Cyber Crime) Rohit Malpani stated “We receive one cyber complaint every hour. The number of FIRs has increased from 11 in 2022 (till October) to 69 in the corresponding period of 2023.

In response to this surge, the state government has set up three cyber police stations in Shimla, Mandi and Dharamshala. Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kundu said that cybercrime is a borderless crime and it affects everyone. He said that capacity building is currently underway to ensure that 100 percent of police personnel are trained in cyber crime investigation.

According to the report, in 2023 financial fraud complaints accounted for approximately 64 percent (5,178), social networking complaints for 23 percent (1,901), and Miscellaneous complaints for 13 percent (1,073). The state aims to overcome these challenges by investing in the latest technology for research.

The government has purchased state-of-the-art equipment that includes call detail record (CDR) analyzer, mobile forensics tool, disk forensics software, video forensics software and disk management kit for further investigations.