Steep rise in card, online frauds in FY24: RBI

Online payments have grown at a fast phase in recent years but frauds in such transactions have grown faster. Credit card and online frauds have increased 425% to £145.7 mn FY24 from £27.7 mn in the year-ago period. Card and UPI payments rose nearly 40% to just over £2,240 bn in FY24.
According to RBI’s annual report, over the last three years, private sector banks reported the maximum number of frauds due to cyber crimes. However, overall, it was public sector banks that contributed the most in value terms as a result of their corporate loans.
The number of bank frauds have gone from 9,046 in FY22 to 13,564 in FY23, rising an additional 165% to 36,075 in FY24. Private banks saw a 69% increase in fraud cases to 8,979 in FY23 from 4,312 in FY22. In FY24, they rose by 169% to 24,210.
The number of frauds in the private sector alone have increased 355% to 24,210 in FY24 from 5,312 in FY22. In volume terms, the majority of frauds have occurred in the digital payments (card/ internet) category, while in terms of value, frauds have been primarily reported in the loan portfolio (advances category). However, there was a 46.7% decline in the amount involved in the total frauds reported in FY24, which fell to £1.39 bn from £2.61 bn in FY23.
A majority of online frauds are phishing scams, where the account holder is tricked into providing sensitive information or making payments to fraudsters impersonating another individual. Govt has launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to enable quick reporting of such cases. A toll-free helpline - 1930 - has been operationalised to get assistance.