120% rise in cyber crime in the past four years
ESTIMATED cyber crime has increased almost 120% in Scotland in the last four years, figures show.
Official statistics reveal an overall 4% rise in crime recorded by police, while it is estimated at least 6% of these were cyber crimes in 2023/24.
There were an estimated 16,910 cyber crimes committed in Scotland last year, which was up from 7,710 in 2019/20.
Overall crime incidents recorded by police rose from 289,362 in 2022/23 to 299,780 in 2023/24.
The report, published by the Scottish Government, stressed the total “remains below the position immediately prior to the pandemic” in 2019/20.
Non-sexual crimes of violence increased by 4%, the data shows, to 71,463 last year.
The report said while cases of murder and culpable homicide account for “a very small proportion” of violent crimes, these rose 21% between 2022/23 and 2023/24 – from 48 to 58.
Sexual crimes decreased by 1%, falling from 14,602 to 14,484 – but the report noted this was still the “third-highest level seen since 1971”.
There was a “small decrease of less than 1%” in cases of rape and attempted rape, falling from 2,529 in 2022/23 to 2,522 in 2023/24.
Overall, the report said “sexual crime has increased significantly since 2010/11, despite a small decrease in the latest year”.
However, it was noted that reporting of historic cases of sexual crime “continues to play a role in the latest statistics”, with information suggesting almost a quarter (24%) of sexual crimes reported in 2023/24 had taken place at least one year earlier.
Meanwhile, the report estimated that the number of sexual crimes that were cyber crimes increased from 1,100 in 2013/14 to 4,320 in 2023/24.