Cybercrime cases shoot up in Bengaluru in 2023, detection low: Police data

Bengaluru: Cybercrimes shot up by a whopping 77 per cent in 2023 in Bengaluru compared to the previous calendar year with the city police registering 17,623 cases, according to official data.

As many as 6,422 cybercrime cases were reported in Bengaluru in 2021 and 9,940 in 2022, according to the data shared by the city police.

Out of the 17,623 cases reported in 2023, the police could detect only 1,271, it said.

A senior police officer said cybercrime has been the biggest challenge for the city police and such cases are now being registered in all police stations across the city, leading to a spike in complaints.

"Even complaints from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and complaints received at 112 (all-in-one emergency helpline number) get converted into FIRs. Through the social media accounts of the city police, the Bengaluru Police has also started its awareness campaign by giving cyber tips," he said.

When asked about the low detection rate of cybercrime cases, the officer said: "In many cases, what happens is that we need to depend on service providers, banks, global tech firms and social media platforms and there has been delay on their part in sharing relevant information required for investigation purposes.

In many cases, we have seen these platforms just refuse to share certain details citing their company policies which indeed emerge as the biggest hurdle in taking the probe forward." Last year, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda also formed four Special Investigation Teams under a DCP rank officer to probe cybercrime-related cases to speed up the investigation.