Cybercrime Cases in 2021 Rose by 5 Percent, Fraud Most Common Motive: Report

Charge sheets were filed in only 33.8 percent of cybercrime cases, accounting for one-third of all cases reported.

Written by David Delima | Updated: 31 August 2022 15:53 IST

Cybercrime Cases in 2021 Rose by 5 Percent, Fraud Most Common Motive: Report

Photo Credit: Reuters

NCRB data reveals that 60.8 percent of cybercrime cases were motivated by fraud

Highlights

Cybercrime cases in India rose in 2021 compared to 2020
Over 70 percent of cybercrime cases were reported in five states
Fifteen cases of cyber terrorism were recorded in 2021

The number of cybercrime cases reported in the country in 2021 rose by 5 percent from the year before, according to a report. Charge sheets were reportedly filed in only one-third of cases, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Fraud was the most common motive in cases of cyber fraud, and over 70 percent of the 52,974 cases reported last year were from states like Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh, according to government data.

According to a PTI report citing data from the NCRB's Crime in India – 2021 report, 52,974 cases of cybercrime were reported in 2021. While the number of cases rose by 5 percent compared to 2020, which saw 50,035 cases, the rate of charge sheets in these cases was only 33.8 percent — accounting for one-third of all cases reported.

NCRB data for state-wise cybercrime cases reported in 2021
Photo Credit: Screenshot/NCRB

Out of the 52,974 cases of cybercrime reported in 2021, the data from the NCRB reveals that 60.8 percent were motivated by fraud, while extortion and sexual exploitation made up 5.4 and 8.6 percent of cases, respectively.

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Over 70 percent of cybercrime cases in the country reported in 2021 were from Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh. Telangana had the highest number of cases at
10,303, while 8,829 cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, Karnataka and Maharashtra saw 8,136 and 5,662 cybercrime cases registered in 2021, according to the report.

Meanwhile, 15 cases of cyber terrorism were recorded in 2021, according to the report, while there were 648 instances of ransomware reported in the country.

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Offences of cheating by impersonation, identity theft, and publishing of obscene and sexual content accounted for over 24,000 of reported cybercrime cases, according to the report.

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Further reading: Cybercrime, Crime, Fraud

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More