Patna: It can begin with a phone call that sounds completely ordinary.
Someone says they are calling from a bank. Another person sends a message about a KYC update. A different caller may offer a job, an investment opportunity or help with an online payment. For many people who have fallen victim to cyber fraud in Bihar, the first contact has looked something like this.
The number of such complaints has risen sharply across the state.
Bihar Police recorded 68,931 cybercrime complaints in 2024. The number climbed to 1,17,812 in 2025. By the end of July 2026, another 1,14,918 complaints had already been filed, according to police data reported by The Indian Express.
Behind those numbers are thousands of people who have lost money through online fraud. Between January 2023 and July 2026, more than 3.35 lakh people in Bihar were reportedly cheated of around ₹1,490 crore. Police managed to freeze about ₹299 crore.
The problem is particularly visible in some districts.
Nawada ranks second and Nalanda fourth among India’s cybercrime hotspot districts, while Patna is ranked seventh. Sheikhpura had earlier appeared in the national top 15 but has since been removed from the list, according to Bihar Police Inspector General (Cyber Cell) Ranjeet Mishra.
The scams themselves are not the same everywhere.
In Patna, police are dealing with investment fraud, UPI scams, phishing and digital-arrest cases. In the Nalanda-Nawada area, investigators have reported fake bank calls, OTP scams, KYC fraud, fake customer-care numbers and fraudulent job offers.
In other parts of Bihar, different methods are being used.
Jamui has reported lottery and KYC scams. Muzaffarpur has seen social-media and UPI fraud, while police have reported online banking fraud in Darbhanga and SIM-swap cases in Sitamarhi.
For victims, the common thread is often the same: the person on the other end of the phone appears genuine until the money is gone.
A caller may know some basic information about the victim and use it to sound convincing. A fake website can look almost identical to a genuine service. Once money is transferred, however, it can move through several accounts in a short time.
That is making the job harder for investigators.
Police say some of the fraud is being carried out through organised networks rather than by individuals working alone.
Mishra told The Indian Express that police are investigating the involvement of SIM-card vendors and bank employees in cases where criminals obtained mobile connections or accounts used for fraud. In one case in Madhubani, police found that 45 SIM cards had reportedly been issued using a single identity document.
Investigators are therefore looking beyond the person who makes the fraudulent call.
One group may arrange SIM cards, another may provide bank accounts and others may handle the movement of money. The people at the centre of the operation may be somewhere else entirely.
Bihar Police has been increasing its efforts to track these networks.
Between January and July 2026, police blocked 6,399 mobile numbers and 1,876 IMEI numbers through cyber-intelligence operations. They also took down 2,809 social-media URLs and permanently deleted 738 accounts, according to the latest figures reported by The Indian Express.
The state’s Economic Offences Unit is also running Operation Cyber Prahar against organised cybercrime.
Specialised cyber police stations have been opened across all 38 revenue districts and railway police jurisdictions. Bihar Police has also introduced a Zero FIR facility for cyber offences.
But recovering stolen money remains difficult.
Once the money has moved through several accounts, investigators have to trace where it went and identify the people controlling those accounts. This is why police repeatedly stress the importance of reporting financial fraud as soon as it is discovered.
At the national level, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs works with state and Union Territory law-enforcement agencies on cybercrime prevention and investigation.
The government also operates the 1930 cybercrime helpline for financial fraud and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
The idea is simple: the sooner a victim reports the transaction, the better the chance that banks and investigators can try to stop the money from moving further.
For Bihar, the rise in complaints comes as digital payments and mobile banking become a normal part of everyday life.
A person no longer needs to visit a bank branch to transfer money, pay a bill or receive a payment. That convenience has changed how people manage their finances, but it has also given fraudsters more ways to reach potential victims.
Police action is expanding, but the cases continue to come in.
For people using digital banking, the warning from the cases is straightforward. A phone call is not proof that someone works for a bank. A KYC message does not mean the sender is genuine. And an investment offer promising unusually quick returns deserves to be checked before any money is transferred.
If money has already been lost, waiting can make recovery harder.
The Bihar Police response is now focused not only on individual complaints but also on finding the networks behind them. For residents, the first step is much simpler: recognise the warning signs, stop the transaction if possible and report financial fraud immediately through 1930 or the government’s cybercrime reporting system.
In a state where cybercrime complaints are already running into the lakhs, that first response can make a difference.
