We have come a long way from the days of just paying through wallets run by fin-tech companies to transacting through United Payments Interface (UPI) among others. Interestingly industry experts opine that despite the ease of transaction provided through technology, it is during the festive season, that scams involving UPI, debit or credit cards, and QR codes, among others, tend to rise. This is due to the extensive use of this method due to its time-saving method of transaction. One prevalent UPI scam includes deceptive payment links sent by unverified sellers, resulting in unauthorised transactions. “QR code manipulation can be a common scam, with deceptive QR codes granting unauthorised account access. Even local stores fall victim as scammers replace genuine QR codes with fakes, diverting funds elsewhere. These scams highlight the need for caution in digital transactions to protect users’ financial security,” Anil Tadimeti, director, product strategy, Bureau, told FE-TransformX.
Industry experts believe that digital and mobile wallets are the leading choice in terms of online purchases. The digital or mobile wallet was most popular in the Asia Pacific Region, where it accounted for about 60% of e-commerce transactions in 2020, as per insights from Statista, a market research firm. Other than that, last year mobile wallets accounted for about half of global e-commerce payment transactions, making the digital wallet the most popular online payment method worldwide. The share is expected to increase to over 54 % in 2026. Credit cards ranked second with a 20% market share in 2021, a figure which might decline in future, as per insights from Statista.
Interestingly, in India, cybercrime is expected to significantly rise in recent years. All thanks to the increased digitalisation and the number of Internet users. Several trends have emerged, demanding attention from cybersecurity professionals and law enforcement agencies. As of July 2023, there were 5.19 billion Internet users worldwide, which amounted to 64.6% of the global population, as per insights from Statista These include card fraud, Internet banking-related fraud, and UPI being the highest contributor. Reports from Statista include that in 2022, around four in ten Internet users worldwide have ever experienced cybercrime. Based on a survey conducted between November and December 2022, Internet users in India were most likely to have fallen victim to cybercrime. It is believed that online financial frauds are at an all-time high with over 75% of total cybercrimes in the country. “In this digital era, safeguarding financial well-being requires diligence. When engaging in online transactions, caution should be taken by relying on reputable platforms and avoiding enticing yet dubious offers. Phishing can be a prevalent modus operandi of cybercriminals and becomes even more pervasive during the festival period. To reduce these attempts, users need to scrutinise every message, verify the sender’s legitimacy and never share personal information,” Ankit Ratan, CEO, co-founder, Signzy, explained.
The number of users in e-commerce platforms is expected to reach 5.3 billion users by 2027, as per Statista, From what it is understood, the festive season has begun, and there has been an increased demand for household appliances, electronic goods and apparel, among others, on e-commerce platforms. There has been an expected increased adoption of consumers paying through UPI, credit or debit cards and QR codes. The majority of consumers, especially millennials and Gen-Z are believed will purchase through mobile e-wallets, UPI, and debit or credit cards. Consumers use digital payments more frequently during the festive season for high-value and low-value transactions. “During the festive season, there might also be an increase in scams related to gift cards or holiday packages. Fraud scam calls are the most common type of financial fraud and individuals must avoid making payments through unknown links and not share their card details and personal information,” Akshay Mehrotra, co-founder, CEO, Fibe, said, adding that users should be vigilant about emails from unknown websites and phone calls from unknown numbers.
Experts believe in a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape, India can protect the digital infrastructure effectively by fostering cooperation and collaboration with law enforcement and the government. Case in point, on August 15, 2023, Fibe launched the ‘Freedom from Fraud’ campaign, a video series aimed at educating consumers about the growing fraudulent activities including digital loan scams, lottery and online job scams, among others, and ways to take precautions against such digital frauds. “Cybersecurity professionals can reduce vulnerabilities with tools such as firewalls, antivirus software and encryption, among others, to safeguard personal and financial data. However, there still remains a larger need to address social engineering-based typologies such as phishing, vishing, and smishing, through continuous education of customers, incident response plans such as real-time holding and blocking capabilities,” Kumar Shekhar, deputy country manager, Tide India, concluded.