India

India emerges as global hub for financial fraud and cybercrimes

New Delhi: India has emerged as a global hub for financial frauds and cybercrimes over the past decade, with scams increasingly targeting individuals and businesses worldwide.

According to Kashmir Media Service, financial cybercrimes originating in India are reaching global scales, with innocent victims tricked into sharing sensitive personal data like credit card information or bank details under the guise of technical support. The country has long been associated with online fraudsters, particularly those targeting nations like the U.S., and these crimes are now extending beyond its borders, causing widespread financial damage.

In 2022, Indian national Hitesh Madhubhai Patel was sentenced to 20 years in prison for orchestrating a multi-million-dollar scam targeting U.S. clients through call centers based in India between 2013 and 2016. This is just one example of how financial frauds have become a major issue in the region.

In June 2023, an FBI investigation uncovered a call center in Delhi that had defrauded U.S. citizens of nearly $20 million. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed that American citizens have lost over $10 billion to scams connected to Indian-based call centers.

These call centers often present themselves as legitimate technical support providers, duping unsuspecting individuals into handing over personal and financial information. Criminals behind these scams transfer funds to accounts in the UK, Dubai, and India, making it harder to trace the illicit money flow.

In another high-profile case, Apple terminated 185 employees in January 2025 after it was revealed that several were involved in scamming, embezzling millions through fraudulent use of the Apple Matching Grants Program. The perpetrators, many of whom were Indian nationals, colluded with nonprofit organizations to steal funds.

Data from India’s Cyber Crime Coordination Center reveals a significant uptick in cybercrime activity, with more than 740,000 cases reported in the first four months of 2024 alone. The majority of these cases—approximately 85%—are related to online financial fraud.

As cybercrime continues to surge, global financial watchdogs, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), are urging India to take swift action in addressing the increasing number of financial fraud cases. The rising scale of these crimes is also evident in a significant increase in card and online payment fraud, which saw a jump from 3,000 reported cases in 2022 to nearly 30,000 in 2024.

The growing threat of cyber frauds in India has raised concerns about the country’s role in the global financial ecosystem and its ability to curb the spread of such fraudulent activities.

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