Cyber fraud in Punjab

December 25, 2025

Like the rest of the country, cyber fraud cases are continuously increasing in Punjab. In recent years, educated people, doctors, professors, police officers, industrialists, government employees, and people from the private sector – people from all walks of life – have fallen victim to cyber fraud. Daily news reports suggest that retired individuals over 50 years of age are the easiest targets for cyber fraudsters because they receive pensions and large sums of money after retirement, which are attractive targets for these scammers. Complaints of such fraud have increased by up to 80 percent in 2024-25. Cyber fraudsters are currently targeting these educated, retired elderly people with fake investment schemes.

The fraud mafia is luring these people with promises of cryptocurrency, foreign trading, and high returns, using fake apps and websites. The method is always the same. Initially, small profits are given to trap the victim, and then they are persuaded to invest heavily, ultimately leading to their financial ruin. Former Punjab Police IG Amar Singh Chahal lost more than 8 crore rupees to cyber fraud and shot himself. His condition remains critical.

In a 12-page suicide note, he wrote that he lost his own money and that of his relatives due to the lure of high returns. This fraud business is so effective that these fraudsters contacted Chahal on October 28, 2025, and, by luring him with various false profitable schemes, trapped his money and forced him to commit suicide within two months. Chahal’s tragedy was that out of the 8.10 crore rupees he lost in the pursuit of higher earnings, 7 crore rupees were borrowed from acquaintances and relatives. Cyber fraud is constantly changing its form, deceiving innocent people. Ponzi investment schemes exploit human greed, and greed knows no bounds. That is why even well-educated people lose everything in the pursuit of making quick profits in a few days. Later, the embarrassment drives them to their deaths. Despite repeated awareness campaigns, cyber fraud cases are not decreasing. India reports the highest number of cyber fraud cases in Asia. One reason for this rising number is that while there are many warnings about controlling cyber fraud, there is no effective mechanism or action in place to control it. Therefore, cyber fraud can only be controlled by countering its increasing sophistication with heightened vigilance. Otherwise, cases like that of former IG Chahal will continue to surface.