A recent report by global analytics firm FICO has highlighted the increasing threat of scams in India's real-time payments (RTP) ecosystem. According to the survey, over one-third (34%) of respondents have lost money to scams, paying for goods, services, or investments that were never delivered.

The report further reveals that 60% of respondents have received messages from scammers, and 54% reported that friends or family members have been scammed. Despite fewer people reporting losses in 2024 compared to the previous year, the report noted a concerning rise in high-value losses, with the percentage of losses exceeding Rs 800,000 doubling from 2% to 4%.

While 56% of the reported losses were under Rs 50,000, these relatively small amounts still have a significant impact on many households. The survey found that nearly 45% of consumers believe that banks should improve fraud detection systems to protect users from scams.

FICO's managing director in Asia, Dattu Kompella, emphasized that the growth and diversification of RTP will continue as more transactions take place among consumers, businesses, and public sector entities. The report also noted that increased fraud detection could help mitigate these scams.

FICO’s 2024 survey was conducted by an independent research company and included around 1,000 Indian adults, as well as 11,000 consumers across 14 countries.