Part Time Job Fraud Tops Cyberabad Crime in 2025

 Hyderabad: Cybercrime continued to be the single largest contributor to overall crime in the Cyberabad police commissionerate in 2025, even as the total number of cognisable offences recorded a marginal decline compared to the previous year, according to data released at the annual press meet.

Briefing mediapersons on Tuesday, Cyberabad police commissioner Avinash Mohanty said the commissionerate registered 37,243 cognisable offences in 2025, a slight decline of 1.2 per cent from 37,689 cases in 2024. Despite the overall decrease, cybercrime remained the dominant crime head, accounting for 7,636 cases, though this represented a sharp 35.9 per cent decline from 11,914 cases in 2024.

While the number of cybercrime cases fell significantly, the financial impact remained substantial. The total amount lost to cyber frauds in 2025 stood at ₹404.61 crore, a reduction of nearly 49 per cent from ₹793.18 crore recorded in 2024. Police interventions helped prevent further losses, with ₹54.67 crore secured through proactive intervention (PoH), while ₹20.75 crore was refunded to victims during the year.

A modus operandi-wise analysis showed part-time job fraud to be the most reported category, accounting for 2,079 cases, followed by trading fraud (1,256 cases) and smishing fraud (689 cases). One of the most notable trends was the sharp fall in digital arrest fraud, where cases dropped from 1,002 in 2024 to 117 in 2025, a decline of over 88 per cent, though losses in such cases still crossed ₹15 crore.

Beyond cyber offences, property-related crimes increased their share from 12 per cent in 2024 to 15 per cent in 2025, emerging as the second-largest crime category. Bodily offences also rose from six per cent to eight per cent, while crime against women recorded a one percentage point increase, rising from eight per cent in 2024 to 9 per cent in 2025.

The economic offences wing registered 95 cases in 2025, marginally higher than 90 cases in 2024. While the value of property attached more than doubled to ₹11.50 crore, the amount frozen declined to ₹26.17 crore from ₹30.77 crore, and arrests dropped from 203 to 111, indicating a mixed enforcement outcome. Several high-value investment frauds involving real estate and stock-market schemes were detected, leading to arrests and large-scale asset attachment proceedings.

In road safety, fatal accidents declined by 6.2 per cent, from 856 in 2024 to 803 in 2025, and deaths fell from 893 to 850. However, road accidents accounted for a higher share of total crime, rising from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. The highest number of fatal accidents were reported on National and State Highways, followed by other roads, underscoring the continued vulnerability of high-speed corridors. Heavy vehicles and two-wheelers accounted for a significant proportion of fatalities, while driving errors and other human factors remained the leading causes.

Women and child safety initiatives continued through targeted enforcement and outreach. SHE Teams conducted 3,887 awareness programmes, while Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) registered 103 cases under the ITP Act, rescuing 195 victims. Under Operation Smile and Muskan, 2,298 children were rescued, most of whom were reunited with their families.