UPI Transactions Fraud Incidents Are Increasing Daily!!!

In the last few years as we have adopted the digital form of payments, UPI fraud has surged exponentially accounting for the latest cyber-fraud incidents.Over the last two years, UPI-based transactions have increased four-fold both in volume and valuealong with an increase in the number of frauds. UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is a process of an instant real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to ease inter-bank peer-to-peer and B2C transactions.

As of March 2020, there were 125 croresof UPI-based transactions, which amounts to ₹2.1-lakh crore in value terms. NPCI data states that this increased to around 540 crore transactions, amounts to ₹9.6-lakh crore in value terms in March 2022. The result of this massive increase in transactions on the UPI platform leads to a high increase incybercrimes.As per the data available in the Reserve Bank of India’s latest trend and progress report, during the period April-September 2021-22, the total number of frauds in various banking institutions increased to 4,071, as against 3,499 reported in the same period last year. The number of debit card and internet payment-related frauds have also increased in the last year.

“In terms of area of operations, aprofuse majority of cases reported during 2020-21 in terms of number and amount involved related to advances, while frauds involving debit/credit card or online transactions made up 34.6 percent of the number of cases,” the RBI report said.

According to banking officials, UPI’s architectural structure is secure and unique. These kinds of frauds happen due to the vulnerability of the consumers, which fraudsters take advantage of. Around 65-75 percent of UPI fraudhappens during peak business hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The average amount of such fraudulent transactions is typically low, with around 50 percent of frauds being less than ₹10,000, while only one-to-two percent of fraudulent transactions are ₹1 lakh and above.As per recent research, more than 60 percent of UPI fraud victims are salaried individuals, and nearly 75-85 percent of the victims are in the age group of fewer than 45 years. Demographically, more than 50 percent of UPI frauds are in metropolitan areas, while rural geographies account for less than seven percent.

The best way to get rid of such traps is not to download third-party apps for purpose of complaints; should not reply to or click unverified links sent by unknown persons/banks/companies through WhatsApp/SMS; and should never share sensitive banking information such as UPI PIN, debit/credit card number, CVV, etc. to anyone.