The number of reported cases of cyber fraud has nearly halved in the last three years while the amount involved has gone up by 30 % in from 2010 to 2012, according to information shared by the Minister for State for Finance in the Parliament on Friday.
In 2010, there were 15018 cases of cyber fraud including fraud relating to ATM, Debit Cards, Internet Banking and Credit Cards while the number came down to 8322 in 2012. The amount involved in these frauds went up from Rs 40.5 cr in 2010 to Rs 52.7 cr in 2012. It showed a decline in 2011 at Rs 36.72 cr
Of the banks which reported fraud in 2012, ICICI bank reported the most number of cases followed by Citibank, American Express and Standard Chartered bank.
Interestingly, Axis Bank has reported a very low number of cases but the amount reported is at par with banks that have reported a high number of cases. It could have been on the receiving end of a major fraud.
In a recent post on NextBigWhat, Sanjay Swamy, the Managing Partner of early stage investing firm AngelPrime had written about minimizing credit card fraud. The three steps he suggests involve eliminating land line based point of sale terminals, enabling pay at table option for restaurants and turning off the card when its not in use.
While India is still a predominantly cash based economy, as penetration of mobile phones increase and the technology heavy financial inclusion measures championed by the central government take root, electronic fraud is likely to go up.
