Ahmedabad: An analysis of a sample of digital financial fraud complaints reported to 1930 — the national cybercrime helpline — and the subsequent FIRs across India shows that 55% of the cases involved losses ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, according to a report released recently at IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A). Overall, 74% of the incidents recorded losses of up to Rs 10 lakh. Among the most frequently registered offences, impersonation scams accounted for 27.5% of FIRs, followed by part-time job scams at 18% and investment scams at 16%. Together, these categories made up more than 60% of all FIRs examined, the report mentioned.
The report, ‘Taxonomising Digital Financial Frauds for Ecosystem Resilience’, by IIMAVentures in association with Aapti Institute and DeepStrat, was based on primary data from about 300 cybercrime complaints fielded by helpline 1930 and 120 FIRs related to financial frauds. The study examined victim experiences, scammer tactics, and gaps in detection and redressal mechanisms, among other parameters.According to researchers, the majority of the fraud victims who called the helpline were between 21 and 40 years. Only a fraction of the total complaints were converted into FIRs, according to the report. While UPI fraud topped the category of most common complaints, the top category among FIRs was impersonation.“The FIR data also reveals that while over half the scams are executed within less than 1 day, the longest tenure for a scam is about 278 days. The scammers most commonly exploit victims’ financial insecurity, desperation, low tech literacy, and vulnerability in trusting strangers,” read the report highlights.“The scale and momentum of financial inclusion that was unlocked by JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile connectivity), DPI (digital public infrastructure), and a concerted effort by FSPs (financial service providers) and fintechs could potentially wither away if we were to not pay attention to fraud management and customer protection. While customer literacy is necessary, it isn’t sufficient to curb frauds. Data-backed insights from the last mile could potentially inspire product innovations that enable the Bharat customer to make safer choices,” said Supriya Sharma, partner, IIMAVentures.
