Telangana Tops India in Cybercrime FIR Registrations With 44% Share

Hyderabad:Telangana emerged as the country’s leading state in registering cybercrime cases, accounting for 44 per cent of all cybercrime FIRs in India during 2025, state Director General of Police C. V. Anand said on Thursday while reviewing the functioning of the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB).

According to authorities, Telangana registered 21,639 cybercrime FIRs out of 49,620 FIRs recorded across the country, placing the state at the top nationally. The FIR conversion rate stood at 78 per cent in high-value cyber fraud cases involving losses exceeding 75 lakhs, while cases involving losses above 1 lakh recorded a 56 per cent FIR conversion rate.

The DGP conducted a comprehensive review of the bureau’s specialised units, including the cyber lab, security operations centre, central monitoring unit, social media unit, child protection unit and digital forensic unit. He assessed their technological capabilities, investigation methodologies and initiatives aimed at strengthening cybercrime prevention and victim assistance.

Director of TGCSB Shikha Goel along with senior officers, gave a detailed presentation on emerging cybercrime trends, advanced investigation techniques, technological interventions and the bureau’s future roadmap.

During the visit, Anand inspected the Bureau’s AI-powered cyber call centre, where he witnessed a live demonstration of the artificial intelligence-based response system. The system was shown responding empathetically to a cyber fraud victim, collecting key information such as the victim's identity, location, nearby police station and details of the offence, while simultaneously alerting the concerned police station for immediate intervention. Appreciating the initiative, the DGP directed officials to further strengthen and expand AI-driven citizen services.

Cybercrimes caused financial losses of 1,524 crores in Telangana during 2025. However, the state achieved a 20 per cent reduction in monetary losses compared to 2024. Cybercrime complaints also declined by three per cent, with 91,369 complaints registered during the year.

The amount placed on hold (POH) in fraudsters’ bank accounts increased from `255 crore to `279 crore, while the POH percentage improved from nine per cent to 12 per cent, reflecting improved efforts to safeguard victims’ money.

The review stated that cybercrime has become one of the biggest policing challenges in Telangana. Of the 86,177 major crime FIRs registered in the state during 2025, as many as 21,639 were cybercrime cases, meaning one in every four major crime FIRs were related to cyber offences. While all other major crimes together resulted in financial losses of `207 crore, cybercrimes alone accounted for `1,524 crore, which is nearly seven times higher.

Addressing officers, Anand said cybercrime is evolving rapidly and stressed the need to adopt artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and cutting-edge technology to stay ahead of cybercriminals.

Telangana has the potential to become the country’s best state in cyber policing through continuous technological advancement and institutional strengthening, he pointed out.

DGP further said the ongoing reorganisation of specialised police units, including Greyhounds, OCTOPUS, the proposed traffic management and road safety bureau and upcoming specialised units dealing with drug offences and food adulteration would help optimise manpower and strengthen the cyber security bureau.

Expressing concern over the increasing number of investment frauds, online trading scams and digital financial frauds, Anand warned that failure to curb cybercrime could lead to far more serious consequences in the future. He said cyber frauds were pushing many families into financial distress, with victims losing their lifetime savings and emphasised that the future of policing would increasingly revolve around cyber investigations.

He urged citizens to immediately report cyber frauds through the 1930 cyber helpline or the national cybercrime reporting portal and advised the public never to share OTPs, passwords, banking credentials or other sensitive financial information with unknown persons.