As cybercrime evolves into a global industry worth trillions, Maharashtra Cyber faces a new breed of criminal — organised, tech-savvy, and ruthless. In an exclusive interview, Additional Director General of Police, Maharashtra Cyber, Yashasvi Yadav, talks to mid-day about the changing face of cybercrime, how “cyber slaves” are being forced into fraud from foreign camps, and how the state’s cyber command centre is racing to protect citizens, money, and minds. Excerpts from the interview:

Cybercrime seems to be increasing every day. What is the current situation?
The old image of a hacker in a hoodie sitting behind a computer is outdated. Cybercrime today is a trillion-dollar business — globally worth nearly USD 6 trillion, which is double India’s GDP. It now functions like an organised industry with employees, targets, and work shifts. In fact, most cybercrimes happen on Fridays, they work the whole week and take weekends off. A shocking new phenomenon we’ve uncovered is cyber slavery. People are being lured with fake job offers to countries like Myanmar and Thailand, where they’re kidnapped, tortured, and forced to run online scams against Indian citizens from what are known as KKR centres. Cybercrime has truly industrialised.