Citizens lose ₹3,588 crore in 5.8 lakh digital payment frauds during FY22-26; banks recover only ₹239 crore

India recorded more than 5.83 lakh digital payment fraud cases involving ₹3,588.22 crore between FY22 and September FY26, with banks and financial institutions recovering only ₹238.83 crore, according to data shared by the Ministry of Finance in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Credit card and internet banking frauds accounted for the bulk of reported incidents during the period. Credit card-related frauds stood at 2,43,849 cases involving ₹1,447.27 crore, while internet banking frauds totalled 2,42,562 cases with the highest amount involved at ₹1,730.14 crore. 

Debit and ATM card frauds were the third-largest category, with 94,991 cases amounting to ₹401.17 crore.

In contrast, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), despite being India's most widely used digital payment platform, recorded only 457 reported fraud cases involving ₹2.13 crore during the period covered by the RBI data. 

Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) and other Aadhaar-related frauds accounted for 1,346 cases involving ₹1.06 crore. Other payment channels, including wallets, prepaid cards, IMPS, NEFT and RTGS, together contributed only a small share of the reported fraud value.

Responding to questions on the rising incidence of digital payment frauds and the vulnerability of senior citizens, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued a discussion paper in April 2026 titled Exploring Safeguards in Digital Payments to Curb Frauds. 

The paper highlighted the increase in Authorised Push Payment (APP) frauds, largely driven by social engineering and instant fund transfers, and proposed additional safeguards for vulnerable customer segments undertaking specified digital payment transactions.

The government also informed Parliament that there is no centralised mechanism to capture expenditure on cyber fraud awareness campaigns. 

However, RBI, banks and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have undertaken several initiatives to educate consumers. RBI has conducted 1,489 Electronic Banking Awareness and Training (e-BAAT) programmes, while banks and the central bank have run public campaigns against "money mule" frauds across television, print, SMS and social media. 

NPCI is also running its multilingual "Main Moorkh Nahi Hun" campaign across television, radio and digital platforms to improve awareness, particularly in rural areas.