Being highly educated or digitally skilled does not necessarily protect people from financial cyber fraud, a study by IIT Madras researchers has found. The victims interviewed for the study included IT professionals, bankers, doctors, management and finance experts, public-sector officers and even people with cybersecurity certifications, reporter PTI.
The study found that cyber fraudsters often exploit fear, stress and urgency rather than simply taking advantage of a person's lack of digital knowledge. Researchers said victims were often targeted when they were going through difficult situations, such as a family illness, retirement, job search or pressure at work.
Fraudsters used fear, financial expectations and concerns about reputation to put victims under pressure. Some victims described the experience as a kind of "mind arrest", where they were unable to think clearly and make decisions as they normally would.
The findings are significant as India has rapidly moved towards digital payments and online financial services. While the shift has made banking and payments easier, it has also given fraudsters more opportunities to target people through investment and stock market scams, job and task scams, digital payment fraud, malware and "digital arrest" scams.
The victims in the study lost amounts ranging from a few thousand rupees to more than Rs1 crore. Besides financial losses, many reported shame, sleeplessness, depression and strained family relationships.
The study was based on interviews with 33 victims, including 22 men and 11 women. Twelve were senior citizens. The interviews were conducted in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai in English, Hindi and Tamil.
Researchers said preventing cybercrime requires more than improving digital literacy. They called for stronger systems by banks and law enforcement agencies to detect fraud early, respond quickly and coordinate better.
"Financial cybercrime is not simply a problem of inadequate digital literacy," said Prof Nandan Sudarsanam of IIT Madras. He said even digitally experienced people can become vulnerable when fraudsters exploit fear, stress and urgency.
The study was led by Prof P Kandaswamy, IPS (Retd), and Prof Nandan Sudarsanam, along with researchers from the University of Western Australia and Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai.
