Only 18 Million Recovered from 2 Billion Cyber Fraud: What Is the Progress on the Formation of the ‘Anti-Cyber Scam Centre’?

The government has responded positively to the proposal to establish an integrated cyber scam response center, and the preparatory process is underway, according to the central spokesperson of Nepal Police. While the general public loses hundreds of millions of rupees to cyber fraud every year, the police have emphasized the need for a specialized agency to combat such crimes. A proposal to create an effective and integrated response system to tackle cyber fraud related to digital transactions involving banks and telecom service providers has been submitted to the Home Ministry. Spokesperson Abinarayan Kafle stated that the Home Ministry has taken a favorable stance on the proposal.

“Previously, due to budget and other reasons, this initiative did not progress. However, this time we have received a positive response from the relevant ministry, and communication with the concerned agencies has already taken place,” he shared. Officials from the banking and telecom sectors have also confirmed that the Home Ministry is engaging in discussions with them on this matter. Still, attempts to obtain feedback from certain Home Ministry officials were unsuccessful. Experts in the security field have recommended that such a center is necessary to eliminate procedural complexities between agencies and to increase the number and capacity of investigation officers. Former police chief Thakur Gyawali commented, “Such centers can play a crucial role in recovering scammed funds, as the process of returning money is more complex than the investigation itself.”

In a cyber fraud case in the month of Baishakh, an individual from Kathmandu lost NPR 1,884,000 but has only managed to recover NPR 16,000 so far. According to data from the Cyber Bureau, the general public suffered cyber fraud losses exceeding NPR 2 billion in the last fiscal year, yet only about NPR 180 million has been recovered. In the fiscal year 2082/83, there were 20,000 complaints related to cybercrime, among which nearly 7,500 involved fraud. Spokesperson Kafle noted that statistics from the recent three years show that only around eight percent of the defrauded amounts have been recovered.

Drawing from international practices, Nepal Police spokesperson Kafle explained that the establishment of the integrated cyber scam response center takes inspiration primarily from the models operating in India, China, Thailand, and Singapore. “We have studied these countries’ effective centers where swift action is taken and results are evident.” Based on this analysis, representatives from banks, telephone and internet service providers, payment service providers, and financial institutions have been involved to advance the center’s processes.