SMS fraud in India: The number of SMS scams in India has increased by 146 percent. By 2025, cyber fraud in the country amounted to over ₹22,000 crore.

SMS Fraud in India: Cyber ​​fraud cases are increasing in India.

SMS Fraud in India: India has seen a rise in cases of fraud through SMS. These cases have increased by 146 percent in the past year. A BioCatch report states that fraud cases have increased by 86 percent on iOS, which is considered more secure, while on Android, the increase has been 35 percent. Regarding losses due to cyber fraud, complaints of cyber fraud worth ₹22,496 crore were registered in India in 2025. This gives an idea of ​​the huge losses people are facing due to cyber fraud.

Why are SMS frauds increasing?

According to media reports, Tom Peacock, Director of Global Fraud Intelligence at BioCatch, said that SMS fraud is more effective because it takes advantage of a trusted communication channel. Fraudulent SMS messages appear genuine, and users often trust them without much thought. The report also states that scammers are targeting the UPI ecosystem.

Cybercriminals are committing bigger frauds in less time.

The report states that fraudsters are now causing significant losses in a shorter period of time. The average time of a mobile fraud session has decreased by 32 percent, but the amount of money transferred during this time has increased by 1.7 times. This means that fraudsters are now transferring money from people's accounts to their own accounts much faster. Peacock said that defrauding large amounts of money in a short call duration shows that fraudsters are becoming more efficient and their scams are becoming more sophisticated. Criminals are now using social engineering and automated techniques to make off with the money before warnings are noticed.

People suffered losses of more than Rs 22,000 crore.

People are suffering huge losses due to cyber fraud. As mentioned above, in 2025, complaints related to cyber fraud amounting to ₹22,496 crore were registered, while transfers worth ₹9,000 crore were declined. Over the past year, investigators have identified more than 8.5 lakh accounts in 700 branches of 700 different banks where fraudulent funds were being laundered.