Indians lost staggering 7000 crore to online scams in the first five months of 2025, an estimate by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has revealed.

More than half of this amount was lost to scamsters operating out of Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, according to the report in the Indian Express.

The analysis of the data compiled by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), a unit under MHA, revealed that these scams are often run from high-security locations, reportedly controlled by Chinese operators, where trafficked people, including Indians, are forced to work, the Indian Express report said.

According to the report, the scams led to a loss of around ₹1,000 crore every month in India on average.

“In January, ₹1,192 crore was lost to Southeast Asia-based countries, ₹951 crore in February, ₹1,000 crore in March, ₹731 crore in April and ₹999 crore in May,” the report quoted an official as saying.

Indians lost staggering 7000 crore through online scams

The report cited data from the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS), I4C’s facility for helping citizens report and manage financial cyber fraud incidents.

A recent investigation revealed that three types of major cybercrime frauds are operating from Southeast Asia. These include stock trading/investment scams, digital arrest, and task-based and investment-based scams.

“With the help of intelligence agencies, the government has identified at least 45 such scam compounds in Cambodia, five in Laos, and one in Myanmar,” the official said.

Law enforcement agencies also tracked agents recruiting Indians for these operations. Most have been reported to be operating out of Maharashtra (59), followed by Tamil Nadu (51), Jammu and Kashmir (46), Uttar Pradesh (41), and Delhi (38).

Indians are likely to lose over ₹1.2 trillion over the next year due to cyber fraud.

According to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Indians are likely to lose over  ₹1.2 trillion over the next year due to cyber fraud.