ACI Worldwide Scamscope Projects APP Scam Losses in India to Reach INR 49,626 Mn by 2028
Authorized
push payment (APP) scam losses in India reached INR 37,309 million in 2023 and
are projected to grow at a 6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach INR
49,626 million by 2028, according to the latest Scamscope report from ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:
ACIW), a pioneer in global payments technology, in partnership with GlobalData, a leading data
and analytics company. The report analysed APP scams across six leading
real-time payment markets globally: U.S., U.K., India, Brazil, Australia and
the UAE.
APP
scams involve scammers tricking their victims into initiating a payment to a
destination account under the scammer’s control. Scammers commonly pose as
government officials or other trusted entities, deceiving victims into making
payments. This trust-based manipulation makes APP scams particularly
challenging to detect as the transaction appears legitimate and bypasses
traditional fraud detection systems and controls.
According
to the report, impersonation scams are the number one APP scam type in India
and contribute to 21% of overall APP scams, followed by investment and advance
payment scams. The report highlighted a 43% increase year-on-year in average
scam values in 2023 as scammers shifted to more advanced impersonation scams
involving larger sums. The rise of AI has also sparked a new era of scamming,
enabling scammers to amplify inherited trust and automate precision attacks
with sophistication and at scale.
India
is making strides in combating APP scams with initiatives like the Sanchar Saathi
portal, which empowers users to block unauthorized SIMs and report fraud.
Although India is among the highest-risk markets for APP scams globally, it is
taking proactive steps to tackle the issue more effectively than any other
market included in the study, with the lowest 2023-2028 CAGR forecast for APP
scams at 6% across all the markets analysed in the report.
However,
the fight is far from over. India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has driven
significant digital payment adoption, but it also provides fertile ground for
scammers, who exploit the immediacy of real-time transactions. APP scam losses
over real-time payments reached INR 33,230 million in 2023, contributing to 89%
of overall APP scam losses.
“As
the world’s largest real-time payment market, India has revolutionized digital
payments with UPI. Real-time payments offer unparalleled speed and convenience,
and with robust security measures in place, they can be the most efficient and
secure payment rails. By fostering cross-industry intelligence sharing and
harnessing AI to predict and detect scams, India can set a new standard of
trust in real-time payments,” said Santhosh Rao, Senior Vice President, Sales –
MEASA, ACI Worldwide.
ACI’s
Scamscope report advocates AI-driven fraud management systems to help analyse
transaction data, flag anomalies and facilitate a coordinated cross-industry
defence to share precise and collective intelligence in real-time. As UPI
expands its footprint globally, India is in a strong position to showcase its leadership
in real-time payments while setting a gold standard for security.
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