The total amount involved in digital financial frauds reached ₹4,245 crore in the first 10 months (April–January) of 2024-25, involving 2.4 million incidents, according to data tabled by the Ministry of Finance in the Rajya Sabha (RS).
This marks a 67 per cent increase from the ₹2,537 crore recorded in 2022-23, which involved 2 million cases. In 2023-24, financial frauds adding up to ₹4,403 crore were identified across 2.8 million cases.
The finance ministry further said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has implemented the Central Payments Fraud Information Registry, a web-based fraud reporting system for payment-related frauds. Banks, non-bank prepaid payment instrument issuers, and non-bank credit card issuers report such incidents through this system.
However, the government informed the House that the Citizen Financial Cyberfraud Reporting and Management System has been introduced to enable immediate reporting of financial frauds and prevent fraudsters from siphoning off funds. So far, roughly ₹4,386 crore has been saved through this system, based on 1.3 million complaints.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the RS that several initiatives have been undertaken by the government, RBI, and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to prevent digital financial fraud.
“RBI issued Master Directions on Digital Payment Security Controls in February 2021 to combat web and mobile application threats. These guidelines mandate banks to implement common minimum security standards for various payment channels, including internet banking, mobile banking, and card payments. RBI has also launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-based tool, MuleHunter.AI, to identify money mules and has advised banks and financial institutions to use it,” Chaudhary said.
NPCI has also implemented device binding between a customer’s mobile number and device, two-factor authentication through personal identification numbers, daily transaction limits, and restrictions on certain use cases to enhance the security of Unified Payments Interface transactions, he added.
