Digital Fraud: Indians Lost Two Trillion Rupees in One Year

Last February, business analyst Alok from Pune (name changed) received a message on his mobile phone accusing him of speeding and demanding a fine of 1,000 rupees. The message stated that immediate payment of the fine would help him avoid suspension of his driving license. This urgency prompted Alok to hastily click the link in the message and proceed with the payment. He was instructed to enter the OTP (one-time password) sent to his phone to complete the transaction. Within a minute, a notification appeared indicating that approximately 500,000 Nepali rupees had been debited from his credit card. Alok had inadvertently authorized a payment far exceeding the initially requested fine. Online fraudsters typically send fake links resembling government websites via SMS in India. They compel victims to click these phishing links without suspicion, stealing money directly from bank accounts. Alok fell victim to this type of scam.

Experts refer to this form of fraud as “social engineering,” where scammers manipulate psychological pressure by instilling fear and forcing victims to act in haste. With the rapid growth of digital payments over the past five years, India has witnessed a worrying increase in such cybercrimes. In 2025 alone, nearly 2.5 million people lost over two trillion Indian rupees (around 2.5 billion USD) to digital scams. This figure represents a staggering 4,300% increase since 2021. The massive surge in digital fraud cases has compelled India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to take preventive measures.

In a recently released consultation paper, the RBI discussed several proposed solutions to tackle this issue. Among the measures suggested are delaying debit transactions by one hour after money is transferred from one person’s account to another to allow for fraud detection. Additionally, for high-value digital payments from accounts of senior citizens and other vulnerable groups, extra authentication by a “trusted person” would be mandatory. The draft also proposes setting limits on large credits received into personal accounts to enable scrutiny. It has been noted that digital scammers often use ‘mule’ accounts belonging to other individuals to conduct their fraudulent activities.