Digital fraud emerged in 2025 as one of the biggest threats facing Indians. From the early days such swindles, when gullible bargain hunters would be lured by non-existent Nigerian princes, the scam industry has moved to online extortion via threats of police action or disconnected utilities. It has recruited and trained a large number of youngsters to work the multi-crore ‘digital arrest’ engine. From a mere ₹91 crore reported stolen in 2022, the amount skimmed off through such deceit ballooned to ₹1,936 crore in 2024. According to a home ministry submission before the Supreme Court, it exceeded ₹3,000 crore in 2025.
This, however, is just the tip of the financial fraud iceberg. The latest half-yearly data from the Reserve Bank shows that banking frauds rose 30 percent in April-September 2025 to ₹21,515 crore over the first half of the previous year. In a measure of how quickly the tech-aided menace is growing, bank frauds had tripled to ₹34,711 crore through 2024-25. The bulk of such frauds are perpetrated by scammers posing as bank or government officials on emails, calls or text messages who trick victims into revealing login details and then drain out their accounts. Fake QR codes and payment links are also popular in the theft industry. However, the traditional high-value frauds—which involve taking loans using forged documents, often in collusion with bank staff—account for the bulk of the scams.
Sadly, the most vulnerable are the elderly. A retired engineer from Pune lost ₹3.08 crore when threatened to be prosecuted on fake terror links. A Punjab IPS officer gave away ₹8.1 crore to non-existent stock investors. Retired persons living on fixed incomes, single and widowed citizens are targeted more often by such scamsters. Barely 10-20 percent of the money is recovered, if at all, and the few who are caught are usually the mules on the lower rungs of the fraud industry. Though police departments are ramping up personnel and technology, the cheats seem to be one step ahead. The lack of resources to prevent and detect digital crime is a major drag our economy cannot afford any longer. Not only are senior citizens and ordinary folks the worst sufferers, but the reliability of digital payments is being cast into doubt. The new year must prompt a renewed pledge to counter this menace on a war footing.