Online payment frauds surge 4x to ₹48,021 in FY26 crore as scams become organised network: Study

Rising digital payments infrastructure in India is helping millions of users to make payments swifter. But it is coming at a big cost, a risk of fraud.  Online scams are no longer merely a matter of reducing the number of fraud cases, but have become an organised network threatening the entire online payment ecosystem.

A global data and technology company, Experian, on Wednesday launched its latest fraud insights report, “The New Frontier: Emerging Trends in Fraud Prevention”. Report says in recent years while the number of fraud cases reduced noticeably, the value associted with scams increased. 

The amount involved in suspected applications has grown 4x  from ₹12,230 crore in FY24 to ₹48,021 crore in FY26.

What factors are fueling the surge in fraud attacks? 

There are several factors behind the surge in online scams against users. The report finds that account takeover emerges as the most widespread threat, with 77% of respondents reporting an increase, indicating growing vulnerability in digital access and authentication layers.

Money muling and identity theft are close behind (71% each), highlighting the rise of organised, network-driven fraud that leverages both stolen identities and intermediary accounts.

Synthetic business fraud and first-party fraud show the highest “significant increase” (39%), suggesting a shift toward more deliberate, high-impact fraud schemes.

Which fraud types are the most difficult to detect and prevent? 

Interestingly, the report also analysed which kind of frauds are most difficult when it comest to detect and prevent them.  It finds that the ‘Authorised Push Payment’ (APP) fraud is the most challenging threat, with 58% of organisations finding it difficult to manage. 

In APP fraud, scammers trick victims into willingly authorising a payment to a fraudulent account. The victim initiates the transaction themselves, often after being deceived through phishing, impersonation or fake investment schemes.

Apart from this, identity theft and money mule activity remain persistent challenges (54% and 53%), reinforcing the role of organised fraud networks and compromised identities in driving risk.

A broad range of fraud types—including first-party fraud, synthetic identities, and deepfakes (52%)—are consistently challenging, indicating that fraud risk is diversifying rather than concentrated in a single category.

The findings highlight that organisations face a broad spectrum of fraud threats, with several types proving particularly difficult to detect and prevent. Notably, a substantial portion of respondents classify these threats as “very challenging”, reflecting the increasing sophistication of fraud tactics. 

What are the barriers in prevention?

The report flags several issues limiting the financial institutions capability to prevent and respond to the frauds when occured. Agility is the biggest challenge, with 48% of organisations struggling to rapidly update fraud models and rules..

Also, data and technology limitations remain key barriers, particularly lack of device data (47%) and real-time monitoring (44%), restricting early detection of sophisticated 

Operational inefficiencies and model performance issues persist, with manual reviews (43%) and high false positives (42%) impacting cost, speed, and revenue, indicating a need for more automated and precise decisioning systems.

“The ability to identify genuine opportunities while detecting emerging risks early will be a critical differentiator in an increasingly digital market. Organisations that combine data, analytics and broader intelligence will be better positioned to protect customers, strengthen operational resilience and support sustainable growth,” Manish Jain, Country Managing Director of Experian in India, said.