Cybercriminals shift focus to smartphones, web‑based scams fall

A shift in criminal tactics is evident across India’s digital landscape. While web‑browser‑driven scams dropped 10 percent, SMS and mobile‑centric fraud rose dramatically, signaling that cybercriminals now favour smartphones as their primary hunting ground.

The study showed that the average call duration in fraudulent attempts shrank by 31 percent, and the overall length of fraud sessions fell 32 percent. Yet the value of fraudulent payment attempts climbed 35 percent, underscoring a strategy of high‑value, low‑time operations.

Experts attribute this evolution to advanced social‑engineering blended with automated tools that bypass traditional detection methods. The rapid rise in mobile fraud is compounded by the widespread adoption of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), mobile banking apps and online investment platforms, all of which provide convenient pathways for illicit transfers.

Regulators and banks are responding with heightened cooperation, deploying real‑time behavioural analytics to spot suspicious patterns sooner. The joint effort aims to keep pace with fraudsters who are constantly modernising their techniques.