Crimes committed by women in Qingpu district more than doubled from 2009 to 2012, the district prosecutor's office disclosed Thursday.

Women are not just committing more crimes, but the proportion of total crimes committed by women in the district is also on the rise, according to the Qingpu District Prosecutor's Office. They committed 9 percent of the crimes in the district last year, up from 5 percent in 2009.

"The issue of female crime should no longer be ignored," court official Gu Qing said in a press release.

Although the office did not specify which crimes women are most likely to commit, it said most of the crimes were done for financial gains. More than 90 percent of the crimes were money-related.

In one example, a woman named Zhang Xiaofei forged a fake pay slip showing that she earned 100,000 yuan a year so she could get approved for a credit card with a 30,000 yuan ($4,821) limit, according to the press release. She then maxed out the card buying luxury handbags and other products. She ended up facing criminal charges when she was unable to pay back the bank.

"Vanity has led many women to commit crimes," said Zhou Feng, a press officer with the Qingpu District Prosecutor's Office.

The office also dealt with more than 50 cases in which women were charged for luring others into prostitution. There was also a clear increase in the number of women charged with embezzlement and receiving bribes. Those charges accounted for 5 percent of all crime committed by women over the last four years.

Women from other regions in China tend to turn to extreme behavior after they come to Shanghai because they no longer face societal pressure from their parents or communities, the office said.

More than 70 percent of female suspects in the district have not attended senior high school. The office called for female residents to receive more educational and employment opportunities to help reduce the crime rate.