Rising Cybercrime Reports Highlight Legal System's Struggles with Prosecutions
Over 7,200 reported cybercrime cases yield only seven convictions in four months, raising concerns over impunity and investigative capacity.
Recent statistics from judicial authorities reveal a troubling trend in the prosecution of cybercrimes, highlighting a significant gap between reported incidents and successful convictions.
In the first four months of 2025, there were 7,272 cybercrime cases filed, of which only seven resulted in a conviction, yielding a dismal conviction rate of 0.09%.
This figure translates to fewer than one conviction for every 1,000 reported cases.
Additionally, a substantial portion of the cases—4,305—were dismissed due to insufficient evidence or legal viability, indicating ongoing challenges faced by law enforcement agencies in handling cybercrime.
The year 2025 mirrors trends from 2024, during which 6,449 cases were dismissed by the Public Ministry, while 5,850 were dismissed in criminal courts, with only 22 cases concluding positively for the victims.
Experts attribute the high rate of impunity in cybercrime to a lack of resources within the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), which struggles to decipher increasingly sophisticated methods used by cybercriminals.
Aldo González, director of the Cybersecurity program at the Universidad Internacional Universae, emphasized that the low conviction rates reflect a bottleneck in investigative processes, citing an insufficient number of forensic analysts to address the rapidly evolving threat landscape.
González noted that sustained investment in digital expertise and enhanced cooperation between public and private sectors are critical, suggesting that without these measures, any legal reforms would fall short against the continuous innovation in online fraud.
According to analysts, global cybercrime is estimated to result in losses exceeding $10 trillion in 2025, highlighting the magnitude of the issue.
The growth of cybercrime has led to the emergence of organized crime networks proficient in techniques such as ransomware as a service, where criminals market malicious software to facilitate cyberattacks.
Recent developments in international cybercrime investigations included the identification of Russian suspect Vitaly Nikolayevich Kovalev as the leader of the Conti cybercriminal group, responsible for attacks on various Costa Rican institutions, including the Costa Rican Social Security Fund and the Ministry of Finance.
Common cyber fraud methods include the bank official impersonation scam, where perpetrators deceive victims into revealing their account access details, and phishing schemes, where cybercriminals replicate emails or websites—often banking pages—nearly indistinguishable from the originals to collect personal information.
Despite acknowledging these challenges, the OIJ has highlighted budgetary constraints that impede their ability to compete with private sector firms that offer significantly higher salaries, as indicated by OIJ deputy director Michael Soto earlier this month.
Authorities recommend that victims of online fraud report incidents immediately to their banking institutions and file complaints with the OIJ, as such fraud may involve multiple legal infractions.
The Penal Code, for instance, includes provisions against the impersonation of electronic websites, prescribing prison terms of one to three years for such offenses, with penalties increasing to three to six years if the impersonation results in the capture of confidential information to the benefit of the perpetrator or a third party.
In the first four months of 2025, there were 7,272 cybercrime cases filed, of which only seven resulted in a conviction, yielding a dismal conviction rate of 0.09%.
This figure translates to fewer than one conviction for every 1,000 reported cases.
Additionally, a substantial portion of the cases—4,305—were dismissed due to insufficient evidence or legal viability, indicating ongoing challenges faced by law enforcement agencies in handling cybercrime.
The year 2025 mirrors trends from 2024, during which 6,449 cases were dismissed by the Public Ministry, while 5,850 were dismissed in criminal courts, with only 22 cases concluding positively for the victims.
Experts attribute the high rate of impunity in cybercrime to a lack of resources within the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), which struggles to decipher increasingly sophisticated methods used by cybercriminals.
Aldo González, director of the Cybersecurity program at the Universidad Internacional Universae, emphasized that the low conviction rates reflect a bottleneck in investigative processes, citing an insufficient number of forensic analysts to address the rapidly evolving threat landscape.
González noted that sustained investment in digital expertise and enhanced cooperation between public and private sectors are critical, suggesting that without these measures, any legal reforms would fall short against the continuous innovation in online fraud.
According to analysts, global cybercrime is estimated to result in losses exceeding $10 trillion in 2025, highlighting the magnitude of the issue.
The growth of cybercrime has led to the emergence of organized crime networks proficient in techniques such as ransomware as a service, where criminals market malicious software to facilitate cyberattacks.
Recent developments in international cybercrime investigations included the identification of Russian suspect Vitaly Nikolayevich Kovalev as the leader of the Conti cybercriminal group, responsible for attacks on various Costa Rican institutions, including the Costa Rican Social Security Fund and the Ministry of Finance.
Common cyber fraud methods include the bank official impersonation scam, where perpetrators deceive victims into revealing their account access details, and phishing schemes, where cybercriminals replicate emails or websites—often banking pages—nearly indistinguishable from the originals to collect personal information.
Despite acknowledging these challenges, the OIJ has highlighted budgetary constraints that impede their ability to compete with private sector firms that offer significantly higher salaries, as indicated by OIJ deputy director Michael Soto earlier this month.
Authorities recommend that victims of online fraud report incidents immediately to their banking institutions and file complaints with the OIJ, as such fraud may involve multiple legal infractions.
The Penal Code, for instance, includes provisions against the impersonation of electronic websites, prescribing prison terms of one to three years for such offenses, with penalties increasing to three to six years if the impersonation results in the capture of confidential information to the benefit of the perpetrator or a third party.