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A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd (PwC) India states that more than half of fraud incidents in India were ‘platform’ frauds, a new form of economic crime involving social media, e-commerce, enterprise and fintech platforms. associated fraudulent activities. 11 May.
The second edition of PwC’s Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2022: India Insights, ‘Platforms: The New Frontier of Fraud in India’, states that platform fraud has increased since the start of the pandemic.
“The boom in remote work, e-commerce, delivery applications and contactless payments have contributed to the rise in these types of frauds. 57 per cent of all fraud incidents in India were platform frauds,” the report said.
It further said that over 26% of Indian organizations lost more than $1 million due to platform fraud, and 44% of criminals were found to be committing fraud for financial gain.
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PwC said it surveyed 111 organizations across India across various industries such as technology, financial services, banking and capital markets, consumer products and retail, education and healthcare.
Puneet Garkhel, Partner and Leader, Forensic Services, PwC India, said Indian consumers and organizations have been adopting new platforms rapidly over the past few years.
“On an average, an Indian company today deals with five different platforms as part of its regular business activities. The emergence and boom of e-commerce, contactless payments, home delivery models, remote working, etc. have not only Platform-based innovations as well as opened entry doors for fraudsters,” he added.
“Organizations need to be aware of these emerging threats and make substantial investments in fraud prevention and detection strategies to keep themselves safe,” Mr. Garkhel said.
The report states that four out of every 10 platform frauds in India were perpetrated by internal criminals.
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Furthermore, 26% of platform frauds involve collusion between internal actors and external criminals, and added that this implies that more than two-thirds of all platform frauds could be reduced if companies had stronger internal controls. Is.
According to the report, financial frauds account for 89% of all platform frauds or transactions made on platforms. These frauds vary from basic unauthorized digital purchases to more complex identity theft and tri-state fraud.
In addition, payment fraud, especially through credit cards and digital wallets, accounts for 92% of all customer frauds in India.