You’ve Been Warned! 48% Indians Hit by Online Fraud, Says Survey

According to the Asia Pacific Fraud Survey 2017 report, digital fraud is on the rise in India.

According to the report Asia Pacific Fraud Survey 2017, as India witnessed a surge in online transactions, digital frauds are also on the rise. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Have you been spammed by an email asking you for your personal details? Are you still smarting from the time you lost money after an online fraud? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one in India.

According to the Asia Pacific Fraud Survey 2017, Indians are the most susceptible to online frauds, with 48% Indians being hit by online retail fraud. The survey was conducted across 10 countries in Asia Pacific by Experian, a consumer credit reporting agency and International Data Corp (IDC).

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In experiencing online fraud directly or indirectly, India ranks second after Indonesia in the Asia-Pacific region. Furthermore, the report says frauds have increased after digital retail transactions in India increased in the past one year.

According to the report, India stands among the top four countries in the Asia-Pacific region with the highest digital adoption, digital banking account sign-ups, and utilisation. The survey focused on sectors of banking, finance, telecommunications and retail.

Love Online Shopping? Better Be Careful

If you are addicted to shopping online and can’t stop surfing shopping apps on your phone, you might be at a greater risk.

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Consumers have the maximum shopping apps per person in India, an average of 3 per person. 48% of consumers in India have directly or indirectly experienced retail fraud.

Experian surver, as reported by <i><a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/indians-most-susceptible-to-online-frauds/articleshow/61753830.cms">Economic Times</a></i>

What Makes You Vulnerable to Online Frauds?

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The report said that falsification of identity, with many cases of duplicate income tax PAN cards, is one of the biggest frauds in the financial sector. Incorrect employment information and false income documents make up to 40% of the frauds. 

But the danger of being duped is not just to the customers, but also to the companies. As reported by Economic Times, frauds on auto loans in India have risen the fastest in the fiscal 2017, especially in car loans and personal loans.

0.37 percent of the auto loan applications in 2017 were estimated to be fraudulent compared to 0.23 percent in 2016. Similarly, 0.72 percent of personal loans were estimated to be fraudulent compared to 0.50 percent in 2016.

Of the surveyed sectors, Indian retail merchants experience higher incidents of frauds to the tune of five percent of total gross merchandise value. Various methods devised by fraudsters leading to such losses are -19 percent return frauds, 11.6 percent clean frauds and 11.1 percent card-not-present frauds.

Well, that explains the ‘no return’ policy adopted by many retail stores across India.

Is Aadhaar the Solution to Fraud Woes?

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With the entire Aadhaar debate going on across the country, the report said that centralised national IDs may be a solution to online frauds, but not necessarily the safest one. According to The Times of India, the report has also analysed how various countries try to tackle online frauds with the help of a centralised national IDs ranging from biometric-enabled national ID to APIs for businesses to interface with.

While calling India’s Aadhaar as one of the most assertive national IDs, the report said that even Aadhaar is still facing many challenges when it comes to protection of data and privacy.

While many in India are concerned about the privacy and safety issues by having to link every other detail with Aadhaar, will the government take steps in right direction to curb online frauds remains to be seen.

(With inputs from PTI, The Times of India and Economic Times)

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