Make Your Fraud Defenses Smarter Than Cybercriminals
India Lost ₹22,845 Crore to Online Fraud in 2024. It’s Time to Outsmart the Cybercriminals.
The Indian government’s recent revelation that online fraud losses have crossed ₹22,845 crore is more than just a headline, it’s a wake-up call. A staggering 206% jump in reported incidents signals a fundamental shift in how fraudsters operate: from phishing scams and remote access attacks to mule accounts and identity theft, the threats are becoming more sophisticated, targeted and organised.
The Indian government is scaling up its response and investing in cybercrime reporting infrastructure and real-time monitoring systems. But public-sector efforts alone won’t be enough. Financial institutions must take proactive ownership of fraud prevention, not just to protect their customers, but also to protect their bottom line, their reputation and the integrity of the digital financial ecosystem.
The Indian government is scaling up its response and investing in cybercrime reporting infrastructure and real-time monitoring systems. But public-sector efforts alone won’t be enough. Financial institutions must take proactive ownership of fraud prevention, not just to protect their customers, but also to protect their bottom line, their reputation and the integrity of the digital financial ecosystem.
The Problem Has a Pattern, If You Can See It
Today’s fraud networks are not random, opportunistic attackers. Some are highly organised fraud rings that operate across borders, devices and channels. A single scam may involve dozens of compromised identities, phone numbers, mule accounts and fake documents - spread across UPI platforms, social media, call centres and online wallets. Fraudsters don’t act alone.What makes these schemes particularly dangerous is their use of legitimate-looking identities and transactions. For example, a bank may onboard a customer who passes all traditional KYC checks, only to find their account later being used as a pass-through for multiple high-velocity fund transfers - classic mule behaviour. Moreover, payments company may detect no anomalies in an isolated transaction but miss the broader pattern of fraud when viewed across time, geography, and entity relationships. AI fraud technology has the ability to link risk signals across multiple dimensions and delivers actionable fraud intelligence.
What Banks Need: A Network View of Risk
Traditional fraud defenses like OTPs and rule-based systems simply weren’t built to detect these connected threats, and they often add friction to the customer experience. They often work in silos, flagging suspicious behaviour in isolation, rather than viewing fraud linkages holistically. That’s where advanced abilities like link analysis and AI play a critical role. By connecting thousands of seemingly unrelated data points such as IP addresses, device identifiers, emails and transaction behaviours, financial institutions can uncover hidden fraud networks. It’s akin to illuminating the unseen connections within your customer ecosystem, revealing risks that traditional tools often miss.How LexisNexis® Risk Solutions Helps
At LexisNexis Risk Solutions, we help financial institutions:
- Identify risk signals associated with mule networks
- Detect synthetic identities using behavioural biometrics and deepfake detection.
- Prevent suspicious activity in real time with digital identity intelligence, which incorporates risk assessment across behavioural, device and transactional data
Cybercriminals Will Only Get Smarter. So Should Your Fraud Defenses.
Online fraud is continuously evolving. As cybercriminals leverage the latest technology, such as AI and deepfake, are your fraud defenses keeping up with the evolving threats? Get actionable insights to strengthen your fraud prevention strategies by speaking with our specialists.