Summary of this article
India's digital fraud rate is nearly double global average.
Account logins face higher fraud risk than onboarding.
Logistics, telecom and insurance sectors report elevated fraud.
India’s suspected digital fraud rate stood at 7.10 per cent in 2025, nearly twice the global average of 3.80 per cent, while account logins emerged as the riskiest stage in the digital consumer journey, according to a TransUnion report.
Titled the TransUnion H1 2026 Top Fraud Trends Report, it said that India has recorded higher financial losses from fraud than the global average. Consumers who reported losing money to digital fraud over the past year said their median loss was Rs 2,03,515, compared to the global median equivalent of around Rs 1.50 lakh. The report said that Indian fraud losses were 36 per cent higher than the global median.
Account Logins Under Pressure
While new account creation is considered the riskiest stage globally, the report found that account login activity has become a major focus for fraudsters across Asia, including India.
In India, 3.90 per cent of all account login attempts in 2025 were suspected to be fraudulent, making it the highest-risk stage in the country’s digital consumer lifecycle. By comparison, suspected fraud rates stood at 3.10 per cent for account creation and 1.20 per cent for financial transactions.
The report said that fraud pressure in Asian markets is increasingly concentrated around authentication and account access rather than payment stages. Once users are successfully authenticated, fraud levels during transactions tend to be lower.
Globally, account takeover fraud continues to rise. The share of account takeover incidents among reported digital fraud increased 37 per cent in 2025 compared to the previous year, reflecting growing efforts by criminals to gain access to existing accounts using stolen credentials and identity information.
Phishing Remains The Main Entry Point
According to the report, phishing was the most common fraud tactic affecting consumers.
Among Indian consumers, 59 per cent said that they were targeted by digital fraud attempts between August and December 2025, while 13 per cent said they were victims. Phishing was the most frequently reported scheme among those targeted.
Indian consumers who lost money to fraud most commonly reported phishing, vishing, smishing and scams involving third-party sellers on legitimate e-commerce websites. All of these categories exceeded global levels.
At the global level, 33 per cent of consumers who were targeted by fraud said they experienced phishing attacks, making it the most common method used by fraudsters.
Identity Fraud Becoming A Bigger Risk
The report added that fraud was increasingly shifting towards identity compromise rather than direct payment fraud. Criminals were using stolen data, phishing campaigns and social engineering techniques to gain access to legitimate accounts or create convincing fake identities.
According to the report, fraudsters target account access because compromising an identity can provide a gateway to multiple services, accounts and transactions.
