Datanomics: Big-ticket bank frauds return, led by public sector banks

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently arrested an office assistant at Punjab National Bank’s Greater Noida branch and a private individual over alleged unauthorised debits from customer accounts. The nature of bank frauds has changed over time. Between financial year 2018-19 (FY19) and FY24, the number of banking frauds increased more than five times, while the total amount involved declined. Over the past two financial years, the trend has reversed: fraud cases have come down, but the amount involved has gone up. Frauds related to advances accounted for over 80 per cent of the amount in every year since FY19. The public sector banks (PSBs) broke the trend of the previous five years by reporting more fraud cases than their private sector counterparts in FY26, while they continued to lead in the value of frauds.