Cybercrime in India saw a sharp surge of 31.2% in 2023, with fraud, extortion and sexual exploitation accounting for the majority of cases, according to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).Fraud-related offences dominated, making up nearly 69% of all cybercrime incidents, highlighting growing concerns over digital security and the urgent need for enhanced cyber vigilance across the country.According to the report, ‘Crime in India’, the number of cases registered under the cybercrimes category rose to 86,420 in 2023 from 65,893 cases recorded in 2022. The crime rate under this category increased from 4.8% in 2022 to 6.2% in 2023.“In 2023, 59,526 cases (68.9%) out of 86,420 cybercrime cases registered were for the motive of fraud, followed by sexual exploitation with 4.9% (4,199 cases) and extortion with 3.8% (3,326 cases),” the report shows.Also Read | Among metro cities, Delhi reported highest number of rape cases in 2023; also topped in terms of crimes by juvenilesThe rise in the number of cases registered under the cybercrime category has been steady — from 27,248 in 2018 to 44,735 in 2019 to 50,035 cases in 2020, 52,974 in 2021 and 65,893 in 2022.In 2023, the highest cybercrime cases — 21,889 — were reported from Karnataka, which saw 8,136 such cases in 2021 and 12,556 in 2022.According to the report, Karnataka saw 18,166 cheating cases committed by personation and 1,007 cases where obscene videos were transferred.Story continues below this ad“In Telangana, 10,303 (cybercrime) cases were reported in 2021, 15,297 cases in 2022 and 18,236 in 2023. In Uttar Pradesh, the third state with the most number of cybercrime cases, 8,829 cases were reported in 2021, 10,117 in 2022 and 10,794 cases were reported in 2023,” the report said.According to the report, a total of 2,04,973 cases were registered under economic offences, showing an increase of 6% in registration as compared with 1,93,385 cases in 2022. “Out of three specified category of economic offences – criminal breach of trust, FCF (forgery, cheating and fraud) and counterfeiting — FCF accounted for maximum of 1,81,553 such cases, criminal breach of trust with 22,759 cases, followed by 661 cases of counterfeiting in 2023,” the report shows.Steady RiseYear Cybercrime cases2018 27,2482019 44,7352020 50,0352021 52,9742022 65,8932023 86,420