CHENNAI: Cybercrime cases in Tamil Nadu nearly tripled between 2022 and 2024, with Chennai recording a seven-fold spike, data from the National Crime Records Bureau released Thursday showed.

Registered cases rose from 2,082 in 2022 to 4,121 in 2023, and further to 5,793 in 2024. Fraud using communication devices led with 5,298 cases, followed by sexual exploitation at 198. Other motives included causing disrepute (65 cases), extortion (61), political motives (45), business development (28), personal revenge (21), emotional motives like anger (21), and prank-related offences (9).

In 2024, 13,342 cybercrime cases were taken up for investigation, including 7,549 cases pending from previous years. Tamil Nadu ended the year with a pendency rate of 91.8 per cent, the second highest nationwide after Manipur's 100 per cent.

Chennai saw cases surge from 271 in 2022 to 1,352 in 2023 and 1,882 in 2024. Coimbatore reported 77 cases in 2022, 340 in 2023, and 300 in 2024.