Scotland's cybercrime epidemic could be "10 times worse" than official figures suggest, according to Rory Innes, founder of charity The Cyber Helpline. He believes thousands of victims are being missed in police statistics and has called for urgent action to tackle the growing threat.
Official Figures Underestimate the Problem
Scottish Government figures revealed an estimated 14,200 web-based crimes were recorded by police in Scotland during 2025-26. However, Innes, 43, said official figures fail to reflect the true scale of the crisis. "We strongly suspect that cybercrime is hugely under-represented in the data. In fact, we believe the problem is at least 10 times bigger," he explained.
The Cyber Helpline's research indicates that around two-thirds of cybercrime victims do not report offences to police, meaning the true number of victims is likely much higher. The charity also warned that inconsistent use of the police "cyber flag" system, designed to identify crimes involving a digital element, could contribute to offences being missed from official figures.
Lack of Consistent Cyber Flagging
Innes said: "Our analysis of police data for England and Wales suggests that 58 per cent of crimes involve a cyber element. That figure does not account for the fact that two-thirds of cybercrime victims do not report to police. The real number of cybercrime victims in Scotland will be much higher than these stats show. A key gap in understanding cybercrime is the lack of use of the 'cyber flag'. This should be added to cases to show there is a cyber element. It's highly likely this system is not being used correctly or consistently across Scotland, leading to a large underrepresentation of cyber cases."
Catfishing Cases Highlight the Threat
Innes founded The Cyber Helpline in 2018, and the charity has supported more than two million users. He has repeatedly warned about the growing threat of "catfishing" – where criminals create fake online identities to manipulate victims. The Sunday Mail has previously exposed the crimes of serial fraudster Ryan McVeigh, who used fake identities and stolen snaps to target 17 women, carrying out sexual, financial and emotional abuse. He is due to be sentenced.
In another shocking case, serial catfisher Adele Rennie, while employed as a nurse, impersonated a doctor named David Graham. It is believed up to 100 women were targeted by Rennie, 35, of Kilmarnock. Rennie was arrested in 2015 and admitted 18 charges involving 10 victims. She was sentenced to 22 months in jail and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years. But following her release, she began pretending to be a lawyer and in 2019, she was jailed for another three years. In 2024, she was once again apprehended, this time facing charges of stalking, deception, and sexual coercion, leading to her third stint in prison. She was released in January 2025 after serving half of her sentence, only to be arrested again just 10 days later.
Government and Police Response
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The Scottish Government takes cybercrime extremely seriously. We welcome the vital work of organisations like The Cyber Helpline in supporting victims and raising awareness of this growing threat and will carefully consider these points. While online safety is reserved to the UK Government, we engage robustly with UK Ministers on strengthening online protections and work closely with Police Scotland and Ofcom to ensure online services protect users and tackle illegal activity. No victim of cybercrime should feel they have nowhere to turn — anyone affected should contact Police Scotland on 101." Police Scotland have been contacted for comment.
