LUCKNOW, May 8 -- Cybercrime in Uttar Pradesh is no longer confined to major cities, with fraud networks increasingly targeting smaller towns, semi-urban districts and rural areas as smartphone use, digital payments and online banking expand rapidly across the state, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data and police assessments.

The NCRB data showed UP recorded 11,073 cybercrime cases in 2024, continuing a steady rise from 10,794 in 2023 and 10,117 in 2022. While Lucknow, Noida, Ghaziabad and Kanpur still account for a large share of complaints, police officials said cyber fraud is now being reported more frequently from tier-2 and tier-3 towns.

Investigators said districts that earlier reported only isolated digital fra...