By Our Reporter
Cybercrime in Nepal is no longer a problem confined to a few internet savvy offenders. It has entered ordinary relationships, bank accounts, workplaces and homes. From revenge sharing of intimate photographs to financial scams and online harassment, digital crime is growing faster than the country’s ability to respond.
The case of Saroj Karki and Sabina, a pseudonym, shows how easily a personal relationship can turn into digital abuse. Saroj had access to Sabina’s Facebook password and possessed photographs and videos recorded during their relationship. After they broke up, he allegedly began publishing the material through her own Facebook account despite repeated pleas to stop. Sabina eventually had to approach the Cyber Bureau.
Another case involved 26-year-old Jawarul Haque, who was arrested after allegedly using photographs taken during a relationship to blackmail a woman and publish them on social media. These cases show a particularly troubling reality: technology has given abusive partners a powerful tool to continue controlling victims even after a relationship ends.
The problem, however, goes far beyond such cases. The Cyber Bureau received 4,362 complaints involving bullying and harassment through social media during the last fiscal year. Another 20,545 complaints involved various illegal activities conducted through social media platforms. Financial crime accounted for 7,410 complaints, making online scams one of the biggest threats facing ordinary users.
The longer trend is even more disturbing. Since the Cyber Bureau began operating in fiscal year 2075/76, it has received 56,706 cybercrime complaints. The number rose from just 357 in its first year to 2,301 the following year and reached 19,730 in fiscal year 2080/81. In fiscal year 2081/82 alone, the bureau received 16,713 complaints.
These figures should force the government to stop treating cybercrime as a specialised policing issue. It is now a national public safety problem.
The first weakness is capacity. Hundreds of complaints reportedly reach the Cyber Bureau every day, while investigations require trained personnel, digital forensic expertise, cooperation with financial institutions and access to data held by international technology companies. Arresting offenders after a complaint is filed is necessary, but it is not enough.
The government’s plan to establish an Anti Cyber Scam Centre is therefore welcome. But it should not become another office with a new signboard and limited resources. It needs a clear mandate, specialised investigators and direct coordination with Nepal Rastra Bank, banks, telecommunications companies, internet service providers and social media platforms.
The priority should be speed. In an online scam, money can move through several accounts within minutes. By the time a victim reaches the police, the funds may already have disappeared. Banks and investigators need a rapid response mechanism that can freeze suspicious transactions immediately, subject to proper legal safeguards.
The police must strengthen digital forensics as well. SIM location tracking and facial recognition can help investigations, but technology must operate within clear legal safeguards. Expanding surveillance without accountability could create another problem while trying to solve one.
Social media companies also cannot remain distant from Nepal’s cybercrime crisis. The government should push for faster responses to lawful requests involving harassment, fraud, impersonation and nonconsensual intimate imagery. Platforms with millions of Nepali users should have clear channels for urgent complaints.
Most importantly, victims must be treated with sensitivity. In cases involving intimate photographs or sexual harassment, victims often fear stigma more than the offender. Police procedures should protect their identity and avoid turning their ordeal into another source of humiliation.
Nepal cannot arrest its way out of cybercrime. It needs prevention, rapid financial intervention, stronger digital forensics, trained investigators, public awareness and meaningful cooperation with technology companies.
The numbers are already a warning. If the state waits until cybercrime becomes even more deeply embedded in everyday life, the cost will be much higher. The government needs to act now, before the digital space becomes a hunting ground for scammers, abusers and organised criminals
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