In a shocking revelation of the scale of digital financial crime in India, a staggering sum of ₹3,198 crore was siphoned off from the bank accounts of 8.3 lakh customers over a three-year period. This massive loss occurred despite the existence of a dedicated cyber fraud reporting and mitigation system.
The Alarming Scale of Digital Theft
According to data presented by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, these losses were recorded between the financial years 2020-21 and 2022-23. The figures pertain specifically to frauds reported through the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre's (I4C) National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and the subsequent actions taken by the RBI's National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The mechanism in place, designed to curb such crimes, involves a multi-step process. When a victim reports a cyber crime on the NCRP portal, the details are forwarded to the NPCI. The NPCI then works with the concerned banks and payment aggregators to block the suspicious transactions and freeze the funds. However, the sheer volume of successful frauds indicates the immense challenge authorities face.
How the Fraud Reporting System Works
The process initiated in 2019 aims to create a swift response to digital payment frauds. Once a complaint is lodged on the cyber crime portal, it is escalated to the NPCI. The NPCI's role is critical—it identifies the destination bank accounts or payment wallets where the stolen money was transferred and coordinates with those entities to halt further movement of funds.
This system has managed to save a significant amount of money from being permanently lost. The RBI data shows that of the total ₹3,198 crore involved in fraudulent transactions, authorities successfully blocked or recovered ₹1,127 crore. This means that while a massive theft occurred, intervention saved approximately 35% of the targeted funds, preventing even greater financial damage to citizens.
A Persistent Threat to Financial Security
The data underscores a persistent and growing threat to the financial security of ordinary Indians. As digital payments and online banking become ubiquitous, cyber criminals are constantly devising new methods to trick individuals into parting with their money or sensitive banking credentials.
Common tactics include phishing calls posing as bank officials, fake customer care numbers, fraudulent UPI payment requests, and sophisticated social engineering scams. The loss of ₹3,198 crore from over 8 lakh accounts translates to an average loss of nearly ₹38,500 per affected account, a substantial sum for most households.
The RBI's submission to the parliamentary committee serves as a stark warning. It highlights the critical need for enhanced public awareness about cyber hygiene and the importance of never sharing OTPs, PINs, or passwords. Banks and financial institutions are also under pressure to strengthen their security protocols and customer verification processes to stay ahead of fraudsters.
For the public, vigilance is the first line of defense. Citizens are urged to verify the authenticity of any unsolicited communication regarding their bank accounts and to immediately report any suspected fraud to their bank and the cyber crime portal at 1930 to initiate the blocking process.
