Cybercrime in India witnessed a rise of 24.4 % in 2022 as compared to 2021. The crime rate in different categories including economic offences (11%), crime against senior citizens (9%) and crime against women (4%) also recorded a rise. This was revealed in the latest reports of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2022.
As per the report, 65,893 cases were registered under cybercrime, showing an increase of 24.4 per cent compared to 52,974 cases in 2021. The crime rate under this category per lakh population had increased from 3.9 in 2021 to 4.8 in 2022. During 2022, 42,710 (64.8 per cent) of cybercrime cases registered were for fraud while 3,648 cases (5.5%) were for extortion and 3,434 cases (5.2%) were for sexual exploitation.
Vice-President emphasizes on providing legal aid to cyber crime victims
Meanwhile, on Saturday, in view of increasing cyber crime incidents with increasing digital penetration in the country, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar emphasized on the need of providing legal aid to cyber crime victims, especially in rural areas. He noted that this was a new area of concern for agencies, investigators, regulators and legal fraternity, and called for developing technical & human expertise to tackle it.
Addressing valedictory session of the 3rd Cyber Security Conference organized by Global Counter Terrorism Council (GCTC) at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, Dhankhar said innocent people were being duped by fraudulent elements, and underscored the importance of data protection awareness, even in the remotest corner of the country.
Terming country’s position as one of the largest digital societies globally, Dhankhar underlined that India had over 820 million active internet users and has achieved banking inclusion for over 500 million individuals. He also drew attention to the fact that the country accounted for 50% of global digital transactions for the year 2023.
Highlighting Government’s proactive measures to fortify India’s digital defences, Dhankhar noted implementation of initiatives, including National Cyber Security Policy, establishment of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, and updates to Information Technology Act 2000, spelled significant advancement in safeguarding country’s digital infrastructure.
UP tops in cyber crime count
As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2022 report Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of cyber crimes at 12,32 cases followed by Karnataka witnessing 6,599 cases and Maharashtra having 5,496 cases registered in 2022.
Hacking leads the crime category list
Further, count of cases lodged under different categories of cyber crime included Hacking (11,041 cases), Identity theft (4,461 cases), Online fraud (3,414 cases), Cyber stalking (2,301 cases) and Cyber bullying (1,641 cases).
Business sector prime target
The victims of cyber crime thugs include 43,634 individuals, 5,341 business sector besides 1,449 in Government sector. NCRB data revealed, a total of 14,114 accused were arrested, 10,449 were Charge-sheeted of which 1,433 culprits were convicted.
Nationalized, private banks lose Rs 236.37 crore
As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), data on financial frauds was maintained by it under the category – “Cards/internet – credit cards, cards/internet – debit cards and cards/internet – internet banking”. Data of financial losses made available by different nationalized and private banks about the financial losses suffered at the hands of cyber fraudsters, the extent of loss (in cases involving Rs 1 lakh and above) during last four Financial Years (FY) was around Rs 236.37 crore.
Data revealed that in financial year 2020-21 banks suffered a significant Rs 50.10 crore revenue loss owing to cyber crime while during financial year 2021-22, the loss was estimated to be a significant Rs 80.33 crore. Further, in financial year 2022-23, the financial loss suffered by banks was calculated to be Rs 69.68 crore while in financial year 2023-24 it is pegged at Rs 36.26 crore.
Cyber trickester loot nationalized, private banks
| Financial Year | Financial Loss (in cr) |
| 2020-21 | 50.10 |
| 2021-22 | 80.33 |
| 2022-23 | 69.68 |
| 2023-24 | 36.26 |
| Total | 236.37 |
