Card and internet fraud cases up 257% since Covid-19 pandemic began

There was a 289% jump in the amount defrauded through these modes, while the amount swindled through cash frauds increased 182%

Card and internet frauds have more than trebled since the pandemic began in 2020.

There has been a 257 per cent increase in the number of such cases, with 6,659 instances recorded in 2022-23, shows data from the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) annual report. This is the highest since at least 2011-12, a Business Standard analysis of past RBI publications has found. The number of such cases in 2011-12 was 629 – less than one-tenth of the latest figure (chart 1).

The amount involved has also shot up. The total value of detected frauds involving cards and the internet was Rs 23 crore in 2011-12. In 2018-19, it had gone up to Rs 71 crore. And in 2022-23, it jumped to Rs 276 crore.

The amount defrauded through card and internet frauds has also risen the fastest compared to other kinds of fraud. The 289 per cent increase (from 2018-19) in the amount is higher than the next category, which was cash. The amount involved in cash frauds rose 182 per cent, to Rs 158 crore, in the same period.

The biggest drivers of fraud still involve advances. Advances refer to the loans that banks give out. Frauds in the category accounted for Rs 28,792 crore of the total amount in 2022-23. The figure stood at Rs 64,539 crore in 2018-19. Such frauds accounted for over 95 per cent of the amounts involved in 2022-23.

“While small value card/internet frauds contributed maximum to the number of frauds reported by the private sector banks, the frauds in public sector banks were mainly in [the] loan portfolio,” said the RBI’s annual report.

Many categories have seen a decline in the number of fraud cases since the pandemic began. Among these are instruments like cheques and demand drafts (-38 per cent), off-balance sheet fraud (-58 per cent), and those involving clearing accounts (-25 per cent).