Cybercrime rises 168%

Cybercrime rises 168% in just one year

 

MUMBAI: A global cybercrime syndicate's bizarre 'employee of the month' competition, in which a Ferrari has been offered for a blueprint of the best online scam, made headlines earlier this week. Closer home, cybercrime has seen an alarming 168% rise in just a year. From 63 in 2012, the number of cases went up to 169 in 2013, as per Mumbai Police.

This year, the number of cases was 54 in just the first quarter; by the year-end, it is expected to cross the 200 mark—almost half of the 421 cybercrime cases recorded in Mumbai from 2010. Also, experts say, more money will be lost to cybercrime this year than in the last three years put together.

Sending obscene emails, SMSes and MMSes tops the chart, with 84 cases registered in the city from 2010, followed by credit card fraud (78 cases).

The police say card fraud is the most worrisome trend. From 2012 to 2013, it rose by 300% (8 to 32 cases). This year, seven cases were registered till March 31, almost equal to the number of cases in all of 2013. The incidence of sending obscene emails, etc, rose by over 191%—from 12 in 2012 to 35 in 2013.

As for hacking, 32 cases have been registered since 2010, with its incidence going up from two in 2012 to eight in 2013. Also, eight cases have been registered in the first quarter of this year—a sign of things to come.

Cyber crime lawyer Vicky Shah said nailing cyber criminals may be time-consuming, but not difficult: "Tracking takes time due to various factors such as contacting the service provider, filing a complaint, looking into the merits of a case, jurisdiction, technology involved, etc. But the machine or communication device from where an offence is committed is traceable."

However, doing this needs special police skills. JCP (crime) Sadanand Date said cybercrime would only grow in the coming years. "Apart from personnel in the cyber crime cell and the cyber crime police station, officers in regular police stations, too, are being trained in the investigation of cybercrime."

Online expert Vijay Mukhi said securing conviction is rare and the system has failed in this regard. "Unless we put cyber criminals behind bars, the cybercrime rate will not come down. We need a special court to handle cybercrime exclusively. It is the need of the hour."