Summary:

• In the fiscal year 2024-25, Nepal recorded 18,926 cybercrime cases, averaging 52 cases daily. This is slightly lower than the previous year's 19,730 cases.
• The decrease does not necessarily mean improvement; it may reflect underreporting and decentralization of case management to district police offices.
• Cyber fraud is the most common crime, with 7,723 cases (40.82% of total), an 87.82% increase from the previous year.
• Other cybercrimes include hacking (3,503 cases), fake impersonation accounts (3,067), bullying/harassment (1,801), criminal defamation (1,026), hate speech (495), sexting (437), sextortion (84), sexual assault (8), threats, image morphing, and cases involving minors.
• Facebook Messenger led in cybercrime platforms with 9,829 incidents, followed by TikTok, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Instagram.
• Telegram-related cases mostly involved online fraud but posed investigation challenges due to limited data access.
• Men are the majority of victims overall, mainly targeted in financial scams, while women face more harassment, bullying, sextortion, and threats.
• Cyber-dependent crimes such as unauthorized server access and malware attacks increased and are harder to investigate due to technical and international cooperation challenges.
• Nepal's current cybercrime law (Electronic Transaction Act 2008) is outdated and lacks clear definitions covering modern cybercrimes.
• The Cyber Bureau highlights the need for updated laws, better resources, technical expertise, infrastructure, and international cooperation to effectively combat cybercrime in Nepal.

Archive: https://archive.md/OfjIl