ON GUARD!

A GOOD DEFENCE OFTEN WINS SPORTING MATCHES, BUT IT MAY COME IN HANDY IN THE DIGITAL WORLD TOO. WITH THE PROLIFERATION OF DIGITAL PAYMENTS, THERE'S BEEN A SPIKE IN FRAUD. SO IT'S IMPERATIVE TO STAY VIGILANT AND WELL-INFORMED

- TEENA JAIN KAUSHAL

VINI SRIVASTAV, A 31-year-old New Delhibased primary schoolteacher, received a phone call from Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) in the afternoon of July 10. The caller, speaking with an air of urgency, informed her that she had an outstanding gas bill and her supply would be cut off unless she paid it immediately. In a soothing and persuasive voice, the caller urged Srivastav to take immediate action and shared a payment link. She was redirected to a website that looked legitimate, complete with her gas connection credentials, including the account ID and registered name, etc. Soon after completing the payment, Srivastav realised that the link shared by the caller had infected her phone. The fraudster quickly emptied her account after gaining access to her mobile phone, while she remained a helpless spectator.

Srivastav is just one example of the rising cases of digital fraud in India. According to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), there were over 36,075 cases of financial fraud in FY24, with 29,082 cases involving digital payment methods, such as card or internet transactions. With the proliferation of online payments in India, the number of digital frauds, which was just 2,677 in FY19, has multiplied to over 36,000. The actual number could be much higher as many incidents go unreported.

"Rising digital fraud in India is a concern, with recent data showing a significant increase in online payment fraud. The RBI reported that digital payment frauds surged over fivefold to ₹1,457 crore ($175 million) in FY24. This alarming increase parallels the rapid growth of digital transactions, particularly through the unified payments interface (UPI), which experienced a 137% rise over the past two years," says Ruchin Kumar, VP-South Asia of enterprise data security solutions provider Futurex.