There were 5,292 cyber financial frauds reported by commercial banks in Tamil Nadu in the financial year 2021-22 (till December 31, 2021), and the total amount involved was ₹17.47 crore.
Cyber financial frauds in banking primarily relate to frauds that have involved ATMs, debit cards, credit cards and internet banking platforms, Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday in response to a question.
As per data provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), there were 5,585 cyber financial frauds reported from Tamil Nadu in 2020-21, with the amount involved totaling to ₹24.14 crore. In 2019-20, there were 7,443 financial frauds, and the amount involved was ₹24.63 crore. In 2018-19, there were 5,497 cases worth ₹24 crore.
According to experts, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital payments, which has in turn resulted in significant surge in financial frauds.
In January, the RBI asked the public to be on guard against fraudulent messages, spurious calls, unknown links, false notifications, unauthorized QR Codes, etc., promising help in securing concessions/expediting response from banks and financial service providers in any manner and urged them to practice safe digital banking.
This month, the RBI also released a booklet BE(A)WARE on the common modus operandi used by fraudsters and the precautions that need to be taken while carrying out financial transactions.
