Online trading frauds have reported a steady rise in Odisha in the past two years with close to 60,000 people being taken for a ride by the fraudsters in the past six years.

During the period spanning from 2019 to November 2024, the state registered 769 cases of online trading fraud with 59,437 people losing their hard-earned money to scammers, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi informed the Assembly on Monday in a written reply.

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According to a written statement by Majhi in the State Assembly, from 2019 to November 2024, the state reported 769 cases of online trading fraud affecting 59,437 people.

The registration of such cases has risen manifold in the last two years. While 18 persons were deceived by the fraudsters in 2019, 28 persons in 2020, and 22 persons in 2021, 2023, and 2024 saw a massive rise in the cases of fraud on investors. The state registered 18, 994 such cases in 2023.

Importantly, 2024 registered an all-time high in such cases with 40,270 people being duped in online trading in the last ten months, CM Majhi informed in the written reply.

The government has taken a slew of measures including the establishment of a dedicated cybercrime unit in Bhubaneswar under the stewardship of the Crime Branch. Officers with expertise in detecting cyber offences such as identity theft, hacking, ATM and online banking fraud, and phishing are posted there to curb such offences.

The Economic Offences Wing of Crime Branch in an advisory said that online traders including crypto-traders must verify the antecedent of crypto buyers especially when the amount is huge. The traders must check the details of the company to see whether it’s a genuine or a shell company.

If the investors are offered a higher or better rate than the prevailing market rate, it should be seen suspiciously. They should avoid the trade with suspicious buyers, it added.