Cybercrime Proceeds Worth ₹36K Cr Under ED’s Radar: Govt

Minister of state (MoS) for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar yesterday informed the Parliament that the enforcement directorate (ED), as of February 2026, has identified proceeds of crime totalling ₹35,925.6 Cr, linked to 257 cybercrime cases. 

In a written reply before the Lok Sabha, MoS Kumar said that the cases pertain to investigation of cyber frauds under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

“… ED and LEAs (law enforcement agencies) share information including (on) matters related to cybercrime. In addition, the directorate shares information with other agencies under section 66(2) of PMLA, whenever, a contravention pertaining to the relevant agency is noticed during investigation under PMLA,” added Kumar.

The MoS also noted that the enforcement agency also uses systems such as SAHYOG, Samanvaya, the Cyber Crime Portal and the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) to track cases.

He also said states are primarily responsible for investigation and prosecution, with the Centre providing support.

To improve detection and recovery, Kumar said that the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) has helped save over ₹8,690 Cr in response to 24.65 Lakh complaints. 

The MoS also added that the government’s “Suspect Registry” has flagged 27.37 Lakh mule accounts and blocked transactions worth ₹9,518 Cr.

To tackle the cybercrimes, the government has also rolled out platforms like the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) for real-time data sharing and the ‘Chakshu’ facility to report suspicious communications. Earlier, authorities disconnected over 1 Cr mobile connections and blocked 2.27 Lakh handsets linked to cybercrime.

The comments came on the same day as RBI executive director P Vasudevan, while addressing a Merchant Payment Alliance of India event, reportedly said that more than 6.1 Cr cyberattack attempts were made on the central bank’s website in the quarter ended December 2025. 

As per Economic Times, Vausdevan said that all the hacking attempts were thwarted by RBI’s firewall and security engines. He reportedly added that the central bank is now deploying AI tools to detect attack patterns and trace their origins. 

The top RBI official also reportedly said that the central bank is developing more AI-powered digital public infrastructure (DPI) and payments intelligence platforms to enhance customer experience and automate grievance handling.

“We are also creating more and more DPIs. We are talking about the use of AI to create all those DPIs and APIs. Of course, AI and APIs are going to be the future of all these DPIs and for all your online activities,” he reportedly added as per news agency PTI.

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