According to official data, 1,475 cybercrime cases were registered in 2019, which increased to 1,931 cases in 2020 and further to 2,037 last year. Similarly, the fraud amount has also increased during the past three years. Cyber criminals swindled Rs 16.18 crore from people in Odisha in 2019. This increased to Rs 35.07 crore in 2020 and further to Rs 40.39 crore in 2021.

In March this year, a case was registered with cyber police that scammers allegedly duped a Keonjhar businessman of Rs 2.35 crore by luring him with the promise of high returns for a life insurance policy he had bought.

In another tragic case, a bank manager from Subarnapur district allegedly committed suicide after being blackmailed by a cyber gang from Rajasthan.

One of the gang members made a nude video call to the bank official and later threatened to implicate him in a pornography case. They extorted Rs 26 lakh in 40 transactions from the bank official who jumped off a bridge into Ang river on August 10 after being unable to meet the demands of the gang.