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Key Points

Telangana has emerged as India's cybercrime capital with a staggering 40.3% crime rate according to latest NCRB data. Southern states dominate the notorious list with Karnataka following closely behind Telangana in cyber fraud cases. Delhi residents lost over Rs 800 crore to online scams in 2024 alone, making it the worst-hit Union Territory. The government has launched multiple initiatives including I4C and cyber police stations to combat this growing digital threat.

Key Points: Telangana Leads India With Highest Cyber Crime Rate NCRB Data Shows

  • Telangana's cybercrime rate is 40.3%, dwarfing national average of 4.8%
  • Karnataka ranks second with high cyber fraud incidents
  • Delhi emerges as top UT hotspot with Rs 817 crore lost in 2024
  • West Bengal shows lowest cybercrime rate among large states at 0.4%
3 min read

Telangana tops 'notorious' national list with highest cyber crime rate: NCRB data

Telangana tops cybercrime charts with 40.3% rate, 10x national average, as NCRB reveals alarming fraud trends across states and UTs.

"Telangana has the highest cyber crime rate of 40.3% – almost 10 times the all-India rate of 4.8 – NCRB Report"

New Delhi, Aug 12

Cyber crooks seem to be most active in southern India, with two states – Telangana and Karnataka – recording the highest rate of such crimes and Puducherry figuring prominently on the notorious list among Union Territories, showed National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on Tuesday.

Telangana has the highest cyber crime rate of 40.3 per cent – almost 10 times the all-India rate of 4.8, according to mid-year data for 2022 collected by the NCRB

The NCRB calculates the cybercrime rate by taking the population of a state or a UT in lakhs and dividing it by the number of such cases of fraud reported during a year.

Maharashtra reported a cyber crime rate of 6.6, with 8,249 such financial crimes recorded in 2022 for a population of 1,257 lakh, said NCRB’s mid-year data.

Andhra Pradesh had a cyber crime rate of 4.4, Assam 4.9, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha 4.3 and Uttarakhand 4.8, it said.

Interestingly, among the large states, West Bengal fared better than many others by reporting a cybercrime rate of 0.4, according to NCRB’s mid-year data for 2022.

Among Union Territories, Delhi emerged as a cybercrime hotspot with a crime rate of 3.2. Puducherry reported a rate of 3.9 as per the mid-year data for 2022 collected by the NCRB.

In 2025, residents of the National Capital lost Rs 70.64 crore in 184 such incidents in the first half of 2025 till June 30, official Delhi Police data showed.

In 2024, Delhi citizens lost Rs 817 crore in 1,591 cybercrime incidents. The number of cyber financial fraud cases registered in Delhi in 2023 was 1,347, and the money lost by victims in such incidents added up to Rs 183 crore.

In 2022, Delhiites lost Rs 231 crore in 1,545 cyber frauds, and in 2021, as many as 1,630 cyber fraud matters left residents of the National Capital poorer by Rs 91 crore, said Rai.

Delhi Police data showed that since 2017, when 454 cyber crimes were reported, the incidents of such financial crimes increased almost threefold till 2024, which recorded 1,591 cases.

Earlier, Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told Lok Sabha in a written reply that as part of counter-cyber crime measures, the Delhi Police has set up IFSO (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) equipped with the latest equipment and software to investigate complex and sensitive cases of cyber crimes.

Besides, one Cyber Police Station in each of the 15 Districts of Delhi Police has become

functional since 2022 to deal with such cases in Delhi, he said.

Help desks at all police stations are equipped to assist women affected by cybercrimes. A specialised Unit SPUWAC (Special Police Unit for Women and Children) is also functioning in the Delhi Police to handle such cases with sensitivity and urgency, said Rai.

The MoS said to strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken various steps which, inter alia, include: setting up the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) to deal with all types of cyber crimes in the country; launch of the ‘National

Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’ (NCRP) (https://cybercrime.gov.in); launch of The ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’ (CFCFRMS) and establishment of a state-of-the-art, Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC).

The Central government has also established a state-of-the-art ‘National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Investigation)’ and developed the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform, namely ‘CyTrain’ portal, he said.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

P
Priyanka N
As someone from Hyderabad, I'm not surprised. Everyday I get at least 3 scam calls about "bank account blocked" or "KYC update". The authorities need to crack down harder on these fraudsters.
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Sarah B
The numbers from Delhi are terrifying! ₹817 crore lost in just one year? We need better international cooperation to track these cyber criminals who often operate from abroad.
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Arjun K
While the government is setting up new units, the implementation is slow. My uncle lost ₹2 lakh last month to UPI fraud and police are still "investigating". More accountability needed!
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Kavya N
Good to see West Bengal performing better. Maybe other states should learn from their model? Also banks should be more proactive in blocking suspicious transactions.
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Michael C
The CyTrain portal is a great initiative! Digital literacy should start from schools. We need to teach children about online safety just like we teach them traffic rules.
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Nikhil C
These cyber police stations are good but understaffed. My friend works in one and says they get 50+ complaints daily with just 5 officers. Need more resources to fight this menace.

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