SCAM WARNING

HOW RISING CYBERFRAUD CONCERNS ARE DRIVING CYBER SECURITY STARTUPS TO LEAD INDIA'S FIGHT AGAINST CYBERCRIME

- BY PAROMITA GUPTA

A quick Google search for 'fraud' will yield at least five recent cases, including that of Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal's Navi Technologies being hit by a payment gateway fraud. The fintech player was hit just months before its March 2025 IPO. Home to 658 million internet users, India is plagued by rising innovative fraud methods, particularly cyber frauds such as money mule schemes, UPI payment frauds, and identity theft scams. The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System reported that the country faced a loss of around INR 11,333 crore to cyber scams in the first nine months of 2024.

Amid this growing concern, Indian startups are rising to the occasion to create a better fraud detection and prevention infrastructure for both clients and consumers. According to Traxcn, a market research firm, the country is home to 84 startups in fraud detection and prevention, including IDfy and mFilterIt.

THE CONCERN

Data predicts that by the time India turns 100, cyberattacks on the country will touch 17 trillion. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global fraud detection and prevention market size is projected to touch USD 246.16 billion by 2032.

A personal episode of cyber fraud led Ranjan R Reddy to start Bureau, a digital fraud prevention startup. “Having worked closely with credit bureaus globally and gaining firsthand experience with mobile-first and mobile-heavy companies, I realized a common gap: “Can you truly trust your platform's users at every step-from onboarding to ongoing engagement?” he said.