On Tuesday, Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar convened a video conference meeting with the Commissioners and Superintendents of Police from various districts.
During the meeting, the DGP directed officials to be more vigilant and thoroughly investigate new forms of cybercrime committed under the guise of investments in crypto currencies.
Following an increase in mobile phone thefts, the DGP stated that the department of telecommunication will soon develop and implement a new ‘Central Equipment Identity Number’ (CEIR) application to identify stolen devices and aid in their recovery. Using the number, police across the country can identify and track stolen mobile phones, returning them to their rightful owners.
“A police officer in every police station will act as a nodal officer in implementing the project,” he said.
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Cybercrime on the rise
The city of Hyderabad, which is also an IT hub, has now emerged as a major center for cybercrime. According to National Crime Record Bureau NCRB data, Telangana contributed about 10% to the country’s total cyber fraud in 2020.
In Telangana, at a rate of 13.4 cases per lakh population, the number of cybercrimes shot up from 2,691 cases in 2019 to 5,024 in 2020, according to the NCRB’s Crime in India-2020 report.
Telangana experienced a twofold increase in cybercrime in 2021. During the year, 8,828 cases of cybercrime were reported. In these cases, 5,833 were major offenses, and 1,191 were cases of online fraud and impersonation.
The Hyderabad Police alone reported 5,646 cybercrimes in 2020, compared to 1,379 in 2019. According to Hyderabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand, every fifth First Information Report (FIR) in Hyderabad pertains to cybercrime. Around 100 FIRs are filed each day in the city, and about 20 percent of them are related to cyber crimes such as social media fraud, financial fraud, hacking and sexual harassment.
About 45 percent of all cybercrime cases involve UPI scams, followed by 15 percent by OTP fraud, phone customer service, investment fraud, and other forms of cybercrime.
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