Card, Internet Transactions Accounted For 80.6% Frauds In Fiscal 2024: RBI Annual Report

Frauds have occurred mostly in the category of digital payments and card/internet transactions and accounted for 80.6% of frauds in fiscal 2024, according to Reserve Bank of India's annual report.

Total number of these frauds was up more than four times year-on-year and stood at 29,082 during the period. However, the amount involved in them was relatively small and stood at Rs 1,457 crore.

This was followed by frauds in advances, which stood at 4,133. Frauds worth Rs 11,772 crore occurred in advances, contributing 84.5% to the chunk of total frauds, which stood at Rs 13,930 crore.

In terms of bank group classifications, private sector banks reported the most number of frauds, which stood at 24,210, making up 67.1% of total frauds in financial year 2023-2024, according to the RBI report. Here, small value card or internet frauds contributed the most to the number of frauds reported.

This was followed by public sector banks, which accounted for 20.7% of frauds. Frauds in the loan portfolio were the maximum in number. Foreign banks' contribution to number of frauds stood at 8.1% in fiscal 2024.

While most instances of frauds were found in private banks, in terms of value, public sector banks contributed to the maximum amount in frauds. For these institutions, this amount stood at Rs 10,507 crore, followed by private peers at Rs 3,170 crore.

Another assessment made by the regulator was in vintage frauds. Here, those reported from April 2023 till March 2024 showed a significant time-lag in the date of occurrence of fraud and its detection.

For instance, the amount involved in frauds in previous financial years formed 94% of the frauds reported in fiscal 2023, whereas, 89.2% of frauds reported in financial year 2023-2024 by value, happened in previous financial years.