Cybercrime cases of cheating by personation surge in Karnataka: NCRB data

Cybercrime such as fake job offers, online investment scams, fake social media profiles and impersonation scams have increased in recent years, according to government data. The increase is most pronounced in Karnataka, which accounts for over 70% of all such cases in India in 2023. Additionally, only about a quarter of such crimes are indicted, and about a third that reach court result in a conviction. This shows that many perpetrators remain immune from punishment.

Such cybercrime falls under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000; This article states: “Whoever commits fraud by impersonation, through any communication device or computer resource, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and a fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.”

India has seen a sharp rise in cybercrime cases; The number increased from approximately 53,000 in 2021 to 66,000 in 2022 and approximately 86,400 in 2023. Karnataka alone accounted for more than a quarter of all cases reported across the country in 2023.

The map below shows the state-wise share of total cybercrime cases across India in 2023.

Karnataka’s share of India’s total cybercrime cases fell from a pre-pandemic high of 25% in 2019 to 21% in 2020, 15% in 2021 and 19% in 2022, before rising again in 2023, as shown in the graph below.

The sharp rise in cybercrime, especially in Karnataka, has largely been driven by cases under Section 66D (‘cheating by impersonation using a computer resource’). In the state, Section 66D’s share of all cybercrime cases increased from 8.5% in 2019 to 70% in 2021 and 83% in 2023. Nationally, 66D’s share of all cybercrime cases increased from 12% in 2019 to 21% in 2021 and 29% in 2023, as shown in the graph below.

Cyber ​​crime cases under 66D include examples such as actor Rashmika Mandanna’s ‘deepfake’ video that went viral in 2023. In the same year, a person pretending to be an official of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India cheated a senior officer in the State Finance Ministry, which also falls under this Section. Another recent example is the case filed in Kashmir this month against five people who allegedly distributed the National Health Mission’s fake job selection list.

However, Karnataka should not be seen as a cybercrime hotspot just because the number of cases is increasing. Higher counts may indicate better trained police and more proactive recording of crimes. Karnataka has become the first State to set up a dedicated cyber crime police station at the city level. Eight cybercrime, economic and narcotic crime units were set up under the Bengaluru City Police in March 2017.

The worrying trend nationally is that while cybercrime numbers are increasing, both the police filing rate and the conviction rate in the courts remain dismal.

The charge rate for Section 66D offenses in India in 2023 is just 25% (one in four), below the overall cybercrime average of 33.9%.

The conviction picture is also worrying: for Section 66D, only 33% (one-third) of cases reaching trial in India resulted in conviction; This is only slightly higher than the 27.6% conviction rate for all cybercrime cases, as shown in the graph below.

Such low conviction rates raise questions about gaps in investigation, evidence handling and legal preparation. At Shield 2025, a cybersecurity conference held in Hyderabad earlier this year, a retired Supreme Court judge said the judicial system needs special training for lawyers, prosecutors and judges dealing with cybercrime. At the same conference, the Inspector General (Cyber ​​Crime) of Rajasthan also raised similar concerns, emphasizing the need for investigators to be experts in the digital domain and trained to respond quickly.

Source: National Crime Records Bureau (2019-2023)

devyanshi.b@thehindu.co.in