Shafaq News/ Economic and financial crime rates are much higher in 2021 than in 2020, a spokesperson to Iraq's Ministry of Interior said on Friday.

Spokesperson Major-General Khaled al-Mehanna told Shafaq News Agency that thefts, burglaries, and fraud rates were significantly higher last year than in 2020.

"On the other hand, violence crimes, like fights and killings, decreased in 2021," he said.

Al-Mehanna cited a new trend that he described as a "state of art" in addition to classic fraud crimes.

"Recently, some criminals were deluding the victims into hypnosis while using light-handedness to steal or deceive their victims," he said.