Cybercrimes up 20.7 pct in 2019: data

All News 13:45 April 13, 2020

SEOUL, April 13 (Yonhap) -- The number of cybercrimes reported to police jumped 20.7 percent from the previous year to more than 180,000 cases in 2019, data showed Monday.

Cybercrimes reported to police totaled 180,499 cases in 2019, compared with 149,604 in 2018, according to an annual report compiled by the National Police Agency.

By type, crimes using online networks -- such as phishing and smishing -- accounted for 84.2 percent, while crimes related to illegal content, such as production and distribution of sexually exploitative content, reached 13.8 percent. Around 2 percent of the crimes were related to hacking and malware.

By charge, dupery came in at 75.4 percent, followed by cyber defamation at 9.2 percent. Cyber financial crime and gambling reached 5.8 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Police projected cybercrimes to become more meticulous this year, citing the dark web and deepfakes as potential risks.