As Fraud Becomes More Sophisticated, Identity-Centric Defence Is Critical In India

• In 2025, 7.1% of attempted transactions involving consumers in India were suspected to be digital fraud, almost double the global rate

• While account creation remains the highest risk stage in the digital consumer lifecycle globally, digital fraud risk in India is most elevated during account login

• Among sectors analysed, logistics recorded the highest suspected digital fraud rate in India

Fraud in India continues to evolve in both scale and sophistication, even as detection improves. A new TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) analysis found that 7.1% of transactions involving consumers in India in 2025 were suspected digital fraud attempts, almost double the global rate of 3.8%.1

These findings are from the TransUnion H1 2026 Top Fraud Trends Report, which highlights a shift toward identity-driven fraud and increasingly sophisticated attack methods.

“Fraudsters are weaponizing both consumer trust and emerging technologies,” said Natarajan Ramani, head of TransUnion India Data Analytics Solutions (INDAS). “As the scale and sophistication of fraudulent operations continue to grow, the threat landscape is evolving faster than ever. Addressing this requires a new generation of identity centric defences that combine advanced analytics, adaptive authentication and multilayered fraud detection. Organisations must match fraudsters’ technological innovation to stay ahead of rapidly changing schemes.”

India’s Suspected Digital Fraud Rate Nearly Double Global, with Risk Highest at Account Login

Globally, account creation remains the highest-risk stage across the digital consumer lifecycle, with 8.3% of those transaction attempts suspected to be fraudulent in 2025. In India, however, fraud risk was most concentrated at account login (3.9%) last year, reflecting growing attempts to compromise legitimate user credentials, followed by account creation (3.1%) and financial transactions (1.2%). This pattern suggests attackers are increasingly targeting existing accounts using compromised credentials.

“Fraudsters are moving upstream,” said Anurag Anand, head of fraud solutions, TransUnion India Data Analytics Solutions (INDAS). “They increasingly exploit vulnerabilities at account creation and login, concealing identity manipulation until losses mount. These methods enable criminals to evade rules based systems built for a different threat environment. To keep pace, businesses need intelligence driven, proactive solutions like TransUnion’s fraud prevention solutions to detect sophisticated identity risks at onboarding.”

Industries Facing the Highest Digital Fraud Risk in India

Fraud exposure varies significantly by industry, with attackers targeting sectors that combine high transaction volumes with frequent digital engagement.

For transactions involving consumers in India, logistics recorded the highest suspected digital fraud rate in 2025 at 16.3%, followed by telecommunications (14.7%) and insurance (11.5%).

These sectors often rely on real-time interactions, distributed networks and high-frequency transactions, creating opportunities for fraudsters to exploit gaps in identity verification and authentication.

Telecommunications Has Seen the Biggest Increase in Suspected Digital Fraud from India Among Industries Analysed

TransUnion came to its conclusions about digital fraud based on intelligence from its array of TransUnion fraud prevention solutions. To learn more about how TransUnion’s solutions can help businesses avoid fraud and prevent fraud losses. 

Specific country and regional data in the report includes India, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia. Download the TransUnion H1 2026 Top Fraud Trends Report for more information and insights about the global fraud trends.