Credit/Debit Card, e-commerce fraud: 42 percent Indians have experienced fraud in last 3 years

India’s Digital Economy is growing at a pace never seen before in any other country or region. The inclusion of payment methods like UPI has skyrocketed the digital payments ecosystem. However, there are also numerous instances of financial fraud that are also growing. A new report has claimed that around 42 percent of Indians have witnessed financial fraud either themselves or with someone in the family in the past three years. The survey also highlights the different kinds of frauds that these people have encountered.

A study conducted by LocalCircles has shared that the survey takers or their family members have fallen victim to financial fraud in the last 3 years. The survey tries to find out the kind of financial frauds people in India have experienced the most. The survey also disclosed the percentage of victims that were able to get their funds back or if there was some kind of resolution.

Financial Fraud Survey Findings

According to the survey, around 42 percent of Indians have encountered financial fraud or know someone in the family who did face financial fraud in the last three years. 54 percent of people claimed to be unaware of any such fraud in their family circle.

In terms of types of fraud, Bank Account Fraud was reported the most at 29 percent followed by fraud by e-commerce websites. Credit card and Debit Card frauds were reported at 18 percent. Fraud by mobile apps was reported by 12 percent of the surveyed people.

When asked about the resolution offered by the respective platform or govt authorities, only 17 percent claimed to have filed a complaint followed by a refund. A staggering 55 percent of the respondents received no positive response despite sharing a complaint.

Financial Fraud Survey Methodology

The survey received nearly 32,000 responses from citizens across 301 districts of India. Of the total 62 percent of respondents were men and 38 percent of respondents were women. Around 43 percent of respondents were from tier 1, 30 percent from tier 2 and the remaining 27 percent were from tier 3, 4, and rural districts.

What to do to stay safe

Passwords: The first step will be to report the issue. RBI has been advising citizens to report any financial frauds they have experienced. To safeguard against such financial loss, experts have been advocating use of alpha-numeric password lock for email, computer and mobile phones, in such a way that is difficult to crack. One should frequently change their account password used for making transactions.

Awareness programs: From the bank’s end, they need to make more efforts to promote financial literacy in various Indian languages. RBI can also organise more awareness programmes on the risk of financial frauds, and how theft of financial information takes place and what all needs to be protected.

Redressal mechanism: There is an urgent need to fix the redressal processes when the consumers approach their bank or financial institution. If only 17% who faced financial fraud were able to get their funds back. Similarly, the policing system, which is the first complaint point for a large majority of Indians is just not sensitised to handle such issues or even provide guidance.

The post Credit/Debit Card, e-commerce fraud: 42 percent Indians have experienced fraud in last 3 years appeared first on BGR India.