HYDERABAD: The year 2020 saw a sudden boom in use of technology (thanks to the pandemic), and with it came a rise in incidences of cybercrime in the city. According to the Rachakonda cyberteam, cybercrime, especially against women, has doubled this year after the lockdown.
On Thursday, cybercrime sleuths of Rachakonda arrested a 30-year-old man for cyberstalking women. Rachakonda cybercrime ACP S Harinath said, "We witnessed a decrease in the rate of other crimes such as thefts and chain snatching over the last few months. This is because, due to the pandemic, people stayed inside their homes, and criminals could not physically target them."
"However, we saw a significant increase in complaints of cybercrime, which doubled during the same period as compared to the last year. We received multiple cybercrime complaints, which ranged from cyber abuse, indecent exposure, unsolicited obscene pictures, threats, malicious emails claiming the user’s account was hacked, ransom demands, blackmail, and more. We also saw a huge increase in cyberstalking, bullying, and harassment against women," he said.
On Thursday, the cybercrime sleuths arrested Varakala Ramesh for creating a fake Facebook ID, stalking and harassing women. The cops launched a probe after a woman complained of being blackmailed by the accused.
"We witnessed a decrease in the rate of other crimes such as thefts and chain snatching over the last few months. This is because, due to the pandemic, people stayed inside their homes, and criminals could not physically target them," ACP Harinath said.