Covid-19: Fraud Attempts Against Businesses In India Doubled In Lockdown

There was a doubling of online fraud attempts against businesses in India during the initial days of the lockdown and the same went down subsequently as the economy began unlocking, an American information and insights company said on Tuesday.

TransUnion found that suspected online fraud attempts against Indian businesses increased 121% in the first phase of the pandemic (between March 11 to May 18), as compared to before the pandemic (between Jan. 1 to March 10).

As businesses began reopening (May 19 to July 25), there was a 29% decrease in suspected digital fraud attempts in India against businesses when compared to the first phase of the lockdown, it added.

The company depended on its fraud prevention solution which looked at intelligence from billions of transactions and more than 40,000 websites and apps, it said in a statement.

"With the rush for businesses to go digital as many were forced to go completely online almost overnight, fraudsters tried to take advantage," said Shaleen Srivastava, head of fraud, solutions and alternate data at TransUnion in India.

The fraudsters were most likely unsuccessful in executing their designs because of the security measures adopted by businesses, Srivastava said. However, in the consumers segment, fraudsters are using Covid-19 to prey on unsuspecting people.

From a sectoral perspective, financial services and logistics companies witnessed the highest percentage increase in suspected fraudulent digital transactions coming in India, Srivastava said.