Singapore, Feb 12 (IANS): The overall crime rate in Singapore rose by 4 percent last year, largely fuelled by an increase in online commercial crimes, the Singapore Police Force said on Friday.

A total of 33,608 cases were recorded in 2015, up from 32,315 in 2014. Online commercial crimes saw a surge of 95 percent to 3,759 cases, up from 1,929 cases in 2014, Channel News Asia reported.

Almost all other types of crimes registered a decrease, the report said.

Among them, violent or serious property crimes, and housebreaking and related crimes fell to a 20-year low, while theft and related crimes hit a 10-year low.

Cyber extortion cases also fell, plunging from 257 cases in 2014 to 87 last year.

The number of commercial crimes surged 46.5 percent to 8,329 cases, compared to 5,687 cases in 2014. Within this type of crime, online crimes saw the largest increase, the police said.

Cheating involving e-commerce rose 30.5 per cent to 2,173 cases last year, compared to 1,665 cases in 2014. The total sum cheated was about 1 million Singapore dollars (about $750,880).