THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over the past five years, cyber crimes have tripled in the state from 320 cases in 2017 to 955 last year, the highest in Kerala police history. . The statistics with the police department reveal that as many as 2,348 cases were registered from 2017 to 2021.
In 2018 there was only a marginal increase, at 340 cases. In 2019, there was an unusual dip in cyber cases as only 307 were registered across the state, while 2020 saw 426 cases being registered.
Police sources said the rise in the number of cybercrimes is proportional to the rise in the use of the internet. The lockdown period witnessed a tremendous increase in internet usage with people depending on cyberspace for education, recreation, and financial transactions.
A senior officer told TNIE that the most number of cybercrimes pertained to financial fraud and child pornography. “As internet penetration has increased during the last few years, more and more people are using the online banking mode for their financial transactions. Many of them, unfortunately, fell prey to online fraud,” the officer said.
Uploading and circulation of child sexual abuse content also increased during the lockdown and they contributed to around 450 cases last year, the officer said.
“With education going digital and with children spending more time online as well as on social media platforms, predators have exploited the situation perfectly. They used malware to turn the cameras in laptops and mobile phones on and took obscene pictures of children,” he said.