Fraud offenses committed by teenagers last year recorded the biggest jump in 10 years by rising 16 percent on-year, a judicial report showed.

According to the 2020 juridical yearbook published recently by the National Court Administration, the number of fraud cases under the juvenile protection system was 3,695, up by 513, or 16.1 percent, from a year ago, the biggest rise since the 2009 global financial crisis when the tally jumped a whopping 84.3 percent from the previous year. Juvenile protection includes cases that resulted in probation or admissions to juvenile reformatories.

The climb in fraud cases among teenagers appears to be attributable to an increase of online scams, targeting in-game currency and online gift cards. (Yonhap)