UPI Fraud Cases and Losses Rise Over Five Years, Finance Ministry Tells Lok Sabha

The Centre has reported an increase in cybercrime and financial fraud linked to UPI and other digital payment platforms over the past five years; the Ministry of Finance informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

The government shared the data with the House which shows that UPI fraud cases increasing from 4.07 lakh in 2021–22 to 13.42 lakh in 2023–24, before declining slightly to 12.64 lakh in 2024–25. In 2025–26 so far (till November), 10.64 lakh cases have been reported.

The amount involved in UPI frauds increased from ₹242 crore in 2021–22 to ₹1,087 crore in 2023–24, before easing to ₹981 crore in 2024–25 and ₹805 crore in the current financial year so far.

The Centre said in its reply that to prevent payment-related frauds, several safeguards have been put in place by the government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), including device binding, two-factor authentication through PINs, transaction limits and restrictions on certain use cases.