Bengaluru reported most incidents of identity theft in 2021: NCRB

Bengaluru reported the most number of identity theft cases among 19 metropolitan cities in India last year, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

As per the National Crime Records Bureau's Crime in India-2021 report, Bengaluru reported 1,212 cases of identity theft -- 72 per cent of the total number of identity-theft cases (1,685), in the country.

Identity theft is a crime wherein an attacker uses fraud or deception to obtain personal or sensitive information from a victim and misuses it to act in the victim's name. According to Section 66C of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the punishment for identity theft is up to three years in jail and a fine that may extend to Rs 1 lakh.

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Bengaluru was followed by Kanpur where 119 identity theft cases were registered. At the bottom of the chart were Chennai and Coimbatore with one case of identity theft each, while Patna registered zero cases of identity theft.

At the state level, Karnataka last year reported the highest number of identity theft cases at 1,764.

With regard to total cyber crimes in metropolitan cities, Bengaluru again topped the list. Of the 17,115 cyber crime-related cases registered across the country, 6,423 cases were from Bengaluru in 2021. Bengaluru was followed by Hyderabad with 3303 cases and Mumbai with 2883 cases registered in 2021.