New Delhi, July 23 (IANS). There has been a sharp increase in cases of text message (SMS) based fraud and mobile fraud in India. During the second half of 2025 to the first half of 2026, there has been an increase of 146 percent in SMS scams and 67 percent increase in mobile fraud compared to the same period last year. This information was given in a report.
According to the report of Biocatch, this increase in mobile fraud was 86 percent on iOS devices and 35 percent on Android devices.
The report said fraud is now becoming more frequent and costly than ever before. The number of risky payments has doubled, while the average length of fraud sessions has decreased by 32 percent. At the same time, the average transfer amount in each fraud session has increased by 1.7 times.
Meanwhile, a 10 percent decline was recorded in web browser-based fraud, which shows that cyber criminals are now increasingly targeting mobile platforms.
The investigating agencies identified more than 8.5 lakh mule accounts in more than 700 branches of various banks in India during 2025.
According to the report, the total value involved in cyber fraud complaints in India will reach Rs 22,496 crore in 2025. During the same period, 26.48 lakh Mule account cases were reported, while suspicious transactions worth Rs 9,055 crore were stopped with the help of suspicious registry.
“SMS scams are so effective because they take advantage of the trusted communication medium, making fake messages appear genuine and causing people to take action without thinking,” said Tom Peacock, Global Fraud Intelligence Director at Biocatch.
The report also revealed that the total value of fraudulent payment attempts increased by 35 percent, while the average call duration decreased by 31 percent and the average length of fraud sessions decreased by 32 percent.
“The high-value fraud attempts and short completion times for calls and sessions demonstrate that cybercriminals have become more efficient than ever before,” Peacock said.
“Fraud methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Criminals now use systematic social engineering and automated techniques to mislead victims and get them to transfer money before any warning signs appear,” he said.
According to the report, the rapidly increasing use of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), mobile banking, e-commerce and online investment platforms in India has created a strong digital payments ecosystem in the country, but the same system has also become an attractive target for cyber fraudsters.
“The positive thing is that there is increasing collaboration between banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) and law enforcement agencies,” said Subhashish Bose, Global Advisory Director, Biocatch.
“Behavior-based intelligence does not limit banks to a one-time identity verification process, but helps them continuously assess user intent. This allows banks to detect fraud early and take action faster,” he said.
–IANS
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