Mumbai: Statistics provided by the Mumbai Police have revealed that there has been a nearly 200 per cent increase in cyber-crime cases in Mumbai during the period of January to April this year, as compared to the cases registered during the same period last year.
The statistics revealed that 1468 cyber-crime cases were registered this year, as compared to 777 cases registered last year between January and April 2021.
According to the statistics, of the 1468 cases registered, only 76 cases of cyber-crime cases were detected and a total 104 persons have been arrested in the cyber-crime cases. The statistics also revealed that most cyber-crime cases registered are of cheating (617), followed by credit card/online fraud cases (477) and obscene email/SMS/MMS cases (111).
A total of 617 cases of cheating had been registered and the Mumbai Police have classified online cheating cases into eleven categories, of which 62 cases were of online purchase fraud, job fraud (45), loan fraud (26), custom / gift fraud (26), fake website fraud (22), investment fraud (10), matrimonial fraud (10), crypto-currency fraud (8), insurance/provident fund fraud (7), admission fraud (1) and other online cheating cases (100).
Further analysis of cybercrime cases has revealed that 47 cases of fake social media profile / morphine emails / SMS had been registered, hacking (26), pornography (19), phishing / man-in-middle attack / spoofing mail (17), sextortion (15), data theft (4), tampering of source code (4).
There had been zero detection in cases of tampering of source code, purchase fraud, admission fraud and insurance / provident fund fraud cases, the statistics revealed.
“The public has become more aware in reporting cyber crime cases to the police which is a good thing, but still a large number of cases go unreported to the police. The worrying thing is the less detection rate of these cases. We do not have a dedicated cyber crime police cadre, which means that the officer or constable who has been recruited or posted in the cyber crime cell should be an expert in that field,” said cyber crime lawyer (Dr) Prashant Mali.
According to Mali, there is a feeling among certain officials that the cyber crime department is a side posting so there has to be some motivation.
“If these things are taken care of, then detection will also certainly improve,” he added.
