Data: Most Cybercrimes Reported from Karnataka Under IT Act, Are Related to Identity Theft and Impersonation
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 16, 2023
NCRB’s CII reports indicate that most reported cybercrimes under the IT act between 2002 & 2021 were from Karnataka while in Maharashtra & Telangana, most cybercrimes were reported under IPC. Data indicates that Karnataka accounts for nearly 3/4th of the cybercrimes reported under Identity Theft.
In the previous story on Cyber Crimes, we analysed the trends in Cyber Crimes registered under various crimes heads of IPC, IT Act & SLL. In the first story of the series, we reviewed the trends in overall cybercrimes across the states. In this third story of the series, we analyse the trends of major cybercrimes across the States over the years.
The data for this analysis is taken from the collection of Datasets on Cyber Crimes available on Dataful, which is compiled from the National Crimes Record Bureau’s (NCRB) annual Crime in India (CII) reports.
Karnataka reported the highest number of Crimes & Crime rate for Crimes under IT Act
In the first story of the series, we highlighted that Karnataka has the second-highest number of cybercrimes reported between 2002 and 2021 and has the highest rate of cybercrimes. This is mostly due to the crimes reported under the IT Act.  Data indicates distinct trends in the cybercrimes reported in Karnataka under the IPC & IT Act. While the number relating to IT Act reflects the overall cybercrimes reported in Karnataka, the number of cybercrimes reported in Karnataka under IPC is lower.
Karnataka accounts for around 30% of the cybercrimes reported under the IT Act between 2002 and 2021. As highlighted earlier, the data is not available for 2014 & 2015 in NCRB’s CII reports. During this period, around 42.5 thousand cybercrimes were reported under the IT Act in Karnataka. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh accounts for around 28% of the cybercrimes reported under the IT Act. Together, these two states make up 58% of the cybercrimes reported under the IT Act. However, there is a wide variance in the rate of crimes between the two states. Even in the crime rate for crimes under the IT Act, Karnataka tops with more than 63 crimes per one lakh population. In the case of Uttar Pradesh, it is only about 17 crimes per one lakh population under the IT Act.
After Karnataka, Assam has the highest crime rate under IT Act with around 35 crimes per one lakh population during 2002 and 2021. It also ranks next to Karnataka & UP in terms of the total number of cybercrimes reported under the IT Act.
On the other hand, only around 181 cybercrimes were reported in Karnataka under IPC-related crime heads.  Maharashtra reported the highest number of cybercrimes under IPC, followed by Telangana. These two states together account for around 46% of the cybercrimes reported under IPC. However, in terms of crime rate, Telangana has the highest with around 45 crimes per one lakh population. This is around 2.5 times the rate in Maharashtra, which has the next highest crime rate for cybercrimes reported under IPC.
Here is a quick look at the state-wise trends for a few of the crime heads that have the highest number of cybercrimes reported.
Most IPC Cybercrimes reported as ‘fraud’ are from Telangana
In the earlier story, it is identified that cybercrimes that fall under ‘Fraud’ account for the highest number of cybercrimes under IPC. Telangana, which reported the second highest number of cybercrimes reported under IPC, leads the other states in terms of the total cybercrimes under ‘Fraud’. NCRB’s CII reports group these crimes under ‘Fraud’ under various heads across the years. Crimes falling under Section 420-Fraud, Criminal Breach of Trust, or Fraud, etc are considered.
Telangana accounts for around 28% of the total cybercrimes reported under ‘Fraud’ during the period 2002 and 2021. Nearly 63% of cybercrimes reported as ‘Fraud’ in Telangana were during 2021.
The crime rate provides a better comparison between the states by normalising the size of the population for the state, even in this aspect, Telangana has the highest crime rate relating to ‘Fraud’. Nearly 30 cybercrimes per one lakh population were reported as ‘Fraud’ in Telangana between 2002 and 2021.  This is more than 3 times the crime rate recorded in Odisha, which has the next highest crime rate for cybercrimes reported as ‘Fraud’.
In terms of the absolute number of crimes reported under ‘Fraud’ during this period, Maharashtra ranks next to Telangana, followed by Bihar, Odisha & Andhra Pradesh. Among the various cybercrimes reported under ‘Fraud’ in Telangana, a majority are related to online banking frauds and related to OTP. In the case of Maharashtra, Bihar & Odisha, frauds relating to ATMs account for a major share of the crimes under this head.
Telangana also has the highest Crime rate for ‘Cheating’ followed by Maharashtra
After ‘Fraud’, the highest number of cybercrimes under IPC are those related to ‘Cheating’. Maharashtra has the highest number of crimes reported under this head, followed by Telangana. These two states together make up more than 56% of the total IPC crimes reported as ‘Cheating’ across all the states & UTs for the period 2002 and 2021. Like in the case of ‘Fraud’, ‘Cheating’ also forms a part of Section 420 of IPC.
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh & Assam are the other states which have reported a higher number of cybercrimes relating to ‘Cheating’. However, when the crime rate is considered, Telangana has the highest crime rate for ‘Cheating’ among the states. Around 8 crimes per one lakh population were related to ‘Cheating’ between 2002 and 2021 in Telangana. Maharashtra is next with around 6.8 crimes per lakh population. The crime rate relating to ‘Cheating’ cases is markedly higher in these two states.
‘Forgery’ has the highest number of crimes reported under a crime head that does not relate to IPC Section 420.  Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh account for the major share of cybercrimes reported under this head.  ‘Cyberstalking’ or ‘Online Bullying’ of Women and Children (IPC Section 354D) is another crime head under IPC, under which a comparably higher number of cybercrimes are reported. Maharashtra accounts for the highest share of cybercrimes reported under this crime head. Telangana is the next with increased reporting under this head in recent years.
Most Cybercrimes reported from Karnataka under IT Act, relating to Identity Theft and Impersonation
Section 66 i.e., Computer Related Offences are the major categories under which cybercrimes are reported under the IT Act.  As indicated above, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have the highest share of crimes reported under this category. There are various crimes that fall under Section 66.  A higher proportion of the crimes reported under Section 66 are related to Identity Theft (Section 66c) and Cheating by Impersonation (66D).
Karnataka accounts for nearly 3/4 of the cybercrimes reported under Identity Theft.  As for cybercrimes reported under ‘Cheating by Impersonation’, the highest number of crimes are reported in Karnataka. The state accounts for around 42% of the cybercrimes reported under this head. Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Telangana are the other states with a higher number of crimes reported under ‘Cheating by Impersonation’.
Section 67 of the IT Act i.e., Publication or transmission of obscene or sexually explicit acts, is another major category under the IT Act under which a higher number of cybercrimes are reported.
While Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of such reported crimes, Assam has the highest crime rate for this crime head.
In the next story of this series on cybercrimes, we look at the trends in the trial & disposal of cybercrimes with the Police and in Courts.