<h1>Citizens lose Rs 22,845 crore to cyber criminals in 2024, marking 206% surge from previous year</h1> Citizens lost over Rs 22,845 crore to cyber criminals in 2024, representing a 206% increase from the previous year's Rs 7,465 crore. The government reported 36.37 lakh financial fraud incidents in 2024 compared to 24.43 lakh in the previous year. Cyber crime reports on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal showed 22.68 lakh cases in 2024, a 42% increase. The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System saved over Rs 5,489 crore from 17.82 lakh complaints. Government countermeasures included blocking 9.42 lakh SIM cards and 2.63 lakh IMEIs, launching a Suspect Registry that saved Rs 4,631 crore, and implementing the Pratibimb module which led to 10,599 arrests. The system identified 24 lakh mule accounts and processed 63,019 cyber investigation assistance requests.