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India recorded 101,928 cybercrime cases in 2024, up from 50,035 in 2020, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data published by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in 2026. That is more than a doubling of registered cases in the period.
The increase is real within the NCRB series, but the available official tables do not prove that digitization caused it. India’s main cybercrime statistics come from different systems—police cases, citizen complaints about financial fraud, and technical incidents observed by CERT-In—and they must be read separately.
Three different counts describe three different problems
Comparing India’s cybercrime trend requires keeping the publisher, unit and limitations attached to every number.
| Publisher and system | What is counted | Recent figures | What the count does not establish |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCRB police crime records | Registered cases in which a communication device was the medium or target | 101,928 cases in 2024; 50,035 in 2020 | It is not a count of every cyber incident, scam attempt or unreported victim. |
| I4C/NCRP financial-fraud reporting system | Complaints submitted through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and the amounts complainants reported | More than 6,589,201 complaints and more than ₹55,050 crore reported for 2021–2025 | These are portal reports, not NCRB cases, a prevalence survey or a complete measure of losses. |
| CERT-In technical incident tracking | Cyber security incidents observed and tracked by India’s national incident-response agency | 2,944,248 incidents in 2025, compared with 2,041,360 in 2024 | It is not a victim count, criminal-case count or estimate of money lost. |
Sources: MHA/NCRB and I4C data, annual NCRP figures and CERT-In figures.
What the NCRB case increase means
The NCRB’s 2024 total covers registered cases involving communication devices as a medium or target. Within its cybercrime crime-head table, NCRB recorded:
- 29,758 fraud cases in 2024.
- 19,296 cheating cases in 2024.
- Other heads, including sexual-content offences, cyber-stalking or bullying, data theft and additional categories.
Fraud and cheating are classifications in registered-case data. They should not be treated as a complete count of online scams or all harm experienced by internet users. A person may never report an incident, may use a different reporting channel, or may report it without the matter becoming an NCRB-registered case.
Financial-fraud complaints have also expanded
The I4C-managed National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) records complaints submitted by the public. MHA says the portal received more than 6.58 million financial-fraud complaints, involving more than ₹55,050 crore in reported amounts, during 2021–2025. MHA also cautions that these figures are dynamic.
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|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 262,846 | ₹551 crore |
| 2025 | 2,402,579 | ₹22,495 crore |
| 2021–2025 total | More than 6,589,201 | More than ₹55,050 crore |
The annual figures are reports received by the portal. They can be influenced by public awareness, willingness to report and changes in reporting arrangements. They do not show that every reported rupee was ultimately lost, nor do they include every fraud that occurred outside the portal.
Why CERT-In’s incident count is separate
CERT-In recorded 2,041,360 cyber security incidents in 2024 and 2,944,248 in 2025. These are incidents observed and tracked by CERT-In, not police complaints or a count of people defrauded. MHA specifically states that CERT-In does not maintain estimated financial losses for this series. A technical incident can involve an organisation, network or system without producing an NCRB case or an NCRP financial-fraud complaint.
Does digitization explain the rise?
Digitization is relevant context: more public services, payments, identities and communications now use connected systems. However, the cited official trend tables do not compare the pace of digital adoption with crime rates and do not identify a cause. The increase could reflect a combination of actual offending, greater use of online services, improved detection, more public awareness, easier reporting and changes in classification or collection.
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The defensible conclusion is narrower: recorded police cases rose from 2020 to 2024, portal financial-fraud complaints rose sharply from 2021 to 2025, and CERT-In observed more technical incidents in 2025 than in 2024. Those are parallel trends from different systems, not evidence that digitization alone produced the increase.
Who is responsible for prevention and investigation?
MHA states that “Police” and “Public Order” are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India.
State and Union Territory law-enforcement agencies therefore handle prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution, including deciding whether a complaint becomes an FIR and pursuing the case.
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The central government supports coordination through the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). MHA describes I4C as covering reporting, threat analytics, joint investigation, forensics, training, ecosystem management and research. I4C became an attached office of MHA on July 1, 2024, according to the ministry’s I4C scheme description and Cyber and Information Security Division page.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to do after a financial cyber fraud
- Call 1930 immediately. The toll-free helpline is intended to help lodge a financial cyber-fraud complaint quickly and support efforts to stop funds from being siphoned off.
- Submit the complaint online at cybercrime.gov.in. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal accepts reports of all types of cybercrime, with special focus on offences against women and children.
- Complete the required follow-up with the relevant State or Union Territory agency. Those agencies handle complaint conversion into an FIR, investigation and prosecution.
Use the official channels even when the incident does not fit a simple financial-fraud description; the portal is designed for broader cybercrime reporting, while 1930 is the urgent route for financial fraud.
Quick Recap
How to read future cybercrime headlines
- Check whether the number is an NCRB registered case, an NCRP complaint and reported amount or a CERT-In observed incident.
- Check the period and the publisher. A 2024 NCRB figure cannot be added to a 2025 CERT-In figure.
- Do not convert reported amounts into confirmed losses unless the source makes that qualification.
- Remember that a rise in reporting can increase a series even when the underlying level of offending is uncertain.
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