India digital fraud reaches 7.1% in 2025, nearly double global average, says report
Fraud patterns are becoming more complex as attackers use stolen credentials and targeted methods
Fraudsters now target existing users and accounts instead of only fake account creation
India’s digital payments and online transaction ecosystem continues to face rising fraud pressure, with suspected digital fraud attempts reaching 7.1% in 2025, nearly double the global average of 3.8%, according to TransUnion’s Top Fraud Trends Report released on June 16, 2026.
The report shows that fraud patterns have become more complex, with attackers moving beyond basic deception and adopting more targeted methods that rely on stolen or misused personal credentials. Businesses in India now face faster and more adaptive attack patterns that challenge traditional detection systems.
Instead of focusing only on fake account creation, fraudsters increasingly target existing users and accounts. This shift has made account security more critical as digital services expand across banking, telecom, logistics and insurance ecosystems.
1 June 2026
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India also shows a different pattern compared with global trends. While account creation remains the riskiest stage globally, India sees higher risk at the login stage, signalling a stronger rise in credential-based attacks on existing accounts.
Which Sectors Hit Hardest
Industry-level data shows uneven exposure across sectors, with logistics, telecom and insurance emerging as the most affected segments.
Logistics recorded the highest suspected digital fraud rate in India at 16.3%, highlighting significant exposure in high-volume and real-time delivery networks.
Telecommunications followed at 14.7%, while insurance stood at 11.5%, with both sectors facing repeated attempts to exploit identity verification gaps.
Meanwhile, gaming platforms recorded a fraud rate of 9.6%, while online communities such as dating and forums stood at 4.7%. Financial services reported a lower rate of 2.6%.
Retail and travel showed relatively lower exposure, but both continued to face fraud attempts involving fake identities and manipulated credentials, even as overall risk levels declined sharply in these categories.
Telecommunications also stood out for another reason, recording a 308% rise in suspected fraud attempts between 2024 and 2025, marking it as one of the fastest-growing risk areas.
“Fraudsters are weaponizing both consumer trust and emerging technologies,” said Natarajan Ramani, head of India Data Analytics Solutions at TransUnion. “As the scale and sophistication of fraudulent operations continue to grow, the threat landscape is evolving faster than ever.”
He added that organisations must strengthen identity-based defences to keep pace with rapidly changing fraud tactics.
How Is Fraud Evolving
The report highlights a clear shift towards identity-centric attacks, where fraudsters focus on bypassing authentication systems instead of creating entirely new fake identities.
Globally, account creation remains the most targeted stage, with 8.3% of attempts flagged as suspicious in 2025. However, India diverges from this trend, with higher risk concentrated at the login stage.
In India, suspected fraud at login stands at 3.9%, followed by account creation at 3.1% and financial transactions at 1.2%, indicating that attackers increasingly exploit existing accounts using compromised credentials.
“Fraudsters are moving upstream,” said Anurag Anand, head of fraud solutions at TransUnion India Data Analytics Solutions. “They increasingly exploit vulnerabilities at account creation and login, concealing identity manipulation until losses increase.”
He added that rules-based systems struggle to keep up with these evolving attack methods.
Experts in the report emphasise that businesses now need adaptive authentication, behavioural analytics and layered security models to respond effectively.
The findings highlight a broader shift in India’s digital economy, where rapid digital adoption is expanding the attack surface and increasing exposure to identity-driven fraud networks.
