Kolkata: Digital-arrest fraud has emerged as the biggest cybercrime headache for Bidhannagar City Police. For Kolkata Police, however, investment and hotel booking frauds dominate all other cybercrimes. Kolkata saw digital arrest fraud crimes reduce by half between 2024 and 2025. The findings were shared by cyber units on Safer Internet Day on Tuesday.“It is not necessary that one form of cybercrime uniformly dominates others. Each region has its own set of issues,” an officer said. According to Lalbazar sources, Kolkata Police receive around 1,000-1,200 cybercrime complaints per month, of which roughly 80% involve financial fraud and the remaining involves impersonation or social media abuse. While the city managed to recover Rs 37 crore out of Rs 208 crore lost in 2025, the police say that only a centralised response can streamline the return of money. While all sections of people — not just senior citizens — are vulnerable to cybercrime, the monetary losses suffered by senior citizens are often much more. One reason, cops claim, is that crimes against them tend to drag on longer — like in digital arrest — giving scope to cyber frauds to park their money safely.Cops also earmarked spots where maximum crimes are taking place. “There are a few trouble spots within the country, but there are instances when we found defrauded money travelling out of the country, too,” said DC (cyber) Abhishek Modi.Modi added that, in order to hit out at organised cybercrime, the police are now trying to nab accused operating POS centres where bulk SIM cards are procured. “With new DoT guidelines, we are streamlining our response, too,” the DCP said.According to the cybercrime wing of Bengal Police, recent reports in Kolkata reveal a disturbing trend where cybercriminals are exploiting ‘secure’ websites to defraud users, which is why initiatives like the blocking cell of Kolkata Police have become important.Three victims reported losing money to fake websites despite them showing HTTPS security certificates and the familiar green lock symbol. “The green lock and ‘secure’ label beside a URL no longer guarantee complete safety,” said an officer. “Fraudsters can obtain legitimate HTTPS certificates for phishing sites by registering domains in foreign countries and linking them to registered emails and SIMs. They are now using mule accounts, including Gmail, to create deceptive pages that appear secure but are designed to steal information.”
