Crypto crimes double in a year in Gujarat

A city-based trader was in shock when he got to know that his digital wallet used for his cryptocurrency peer-to-peer (p2p) trading was frozen by authorities. 

The wallet came under the scanner when it got payment for a batch of crypto sale from an unverified account from the dark web. 

Along with losing his legitimate cryptocurrency, the trader also came under the scanner of the cyber watchdogs.

This is just one of the 192 applications received by the national cybercrime helpline (1930) from the state in 2022. A rough calculation indicates that the state recorded one case every two days.

The total number had doubled from just 79 in 2021. City-based cybercrime experts said that in several of these cases, it's either greed or gullibility. 

Sunny Vaghela, a city-based cybersecurity expert, said that many just take to cryptocurrency with the lure of making quick bucks.

According to the state-based coordinators of National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP), the annual cases skyrocketed from 17,237 in 2021 to 80,681 in 2022. In simpler terms, the calls for help or applications of complaint rose from 47 to 221 daily on an average.

Among major categories, financial fraud accounted for 87% of the total complaints at 70,183, followed by social media-related crimes at 5,188.