Rome, July 31 : Some 114 million euros (123.4 million US dollars) were stolen through internet frauds in the first six months of this year in Italy, the country's postal and communication police in charge of cybercrime announced Wednesday.









The figure marked a 71 percent increase compared to the total registered in the country in the same period of 2023.



Overall, investigators uncovered around 14,000 incidents of cyber fraud and other online financial crimes from January to June, representing a 10 percent increase, the police force said, Xinhua news agency reported.



In their annual report issued in December last year, postal police said some 65 businesses of all sizes were among those affected by cyber frauds in 2023. Sums stolen from such companies last year amounted to over 19 million euros, of which 6 million euros were retrieved by law enforcement agencies.



/IANS