MIRI: The incidence of cybercrimes here has shown an upward trend for the past 10 months of this year, compared to the same period of last year, with 344 cases recorded, says Miri Police chief ACP Alexson Naga Chabu.
“In 2022, for the same period from January to October, a total of 289 cases were recorded, but it has skyrocketed by 55 cases or an increase of 19.03 per cent so far this year,” he disclosed during the Miri Police Headquarters (IPD Miri) monthly assembly on Wednesday.
A total of 26 police personnel from various ranks received certificates for their excellent performance during the monthly assembly.
He said despite various awareness campaigns carried out by the police in enlightening the public to curb the cybercrime activities, it was unfortunately getting worse every year.
“The public easily become the scammers’ target because of their excitement with something that gives high returns,” he said.
Thus, Alexson reiterated his advice to the public to be extra vigilant with suspicious calls from unknown individuals.
He also encouraged the public to download the ‘Whoscall’ application on their mobile devices to curb scam activities.
Meanwhile, the city’s overall crime index for the period from January to October this year, saw a drop by 14 cases (or 232 cases), compared to the same period (246 cases) last year.
From January to October this year, a total of 941 individuals were detained for various drug-related offences compared to 730 of the same period the previous year, an increase of 33.5 per cent.
While, the number of fatal accidents that took place this year in this division for the period of January to October has seen a reduction by eight cases.
“In 2022, a total of 44 fatal accidents were recorded, compared to 36 cases this year from January to October,” he said.
Overall, a total of 3,000 accident cases were reported in Miri division from January to October this year, compared to 2,775 cases or an increase by 8.5 per cent in 2022.
