One in three Indians say they were tricked into sending money to fraudsters

A new Outseer survey finds 34.4% of Indian consumers say they have personally been manipulated into sending money to a fraudster, the highest rate across seven markets studied. The findings point to growing concern about scams that use impersonation, pressure tactics and device control to turn genuine customers into unwitting participants in fraud.

Why it matters: - Scams in India are increasingly bypassing account security and targeting customers directly, which means banks have to detect manipulated payments as well as stolen credentials. - The survey suggests consumer trust takes a hit fast: 64.6% of people personally tricked into sending money say the experience reduced trust in the provider involved. - The findings also show strong public support for background fraud checks, which could help banks add protection without making every payment more cumbersome.

What happened: - Outseer surveyed 1,002 consumers in India as part of a broader study of 7,029 consumers across India, the UK, the US, Sweden, Australia, Brazil and Singapore. - 34.4% of Indian respondents said they have personally been tricked by a fraudster into sending money from their own bank account. - 59.8% said they have either experienced that personally or seen it happen to someone close to them. - India’s 34.4% personal-experience figure was the highest among the seven markets surveyed, above the 20.9% average.

The details: - 30.8% of Indian respondents said they had personally been targeted by someone posing as police, government, a court or another authority and threatening action unless money was sent. - 34.0% said they had been asked to install an app that would let a fraudster control their device. - 41.0% of Indians ages 25 to 34 said they had personally been tricked into sending money. - The share remained above one in three in every age group up to 54. - Among respondents 55 and older, the figure fell to 19.6%. - 70.8% said they were very or extremely concerned about being tricked into sending money. - 54.5% said they would report it to a regulator or authority if their bank failed to protect them. - 32.8% said both the sending and receiving bank should cover losses from such scams, the most common answer. - 26.6% said the customer should cover the loss. - 83.5% reacted positively to their bank using background technology to check that the customer is really making a payment. - The study asked about concern and experience across 14 fraud and scam types, attitudes to authentication and liability, and how respondents would respond if their bank failed to protect them. - The survey broke out results by age and market. - Outseer’s full India e-book is available here.

Between the lines: - The survey points to a shift in fraud behavior: criminals are not just stealing access, they are manipulating legitimate customers into authorizing payments themselves. - That makes traditional authentication less effective on its own, because a real customer can still be tricked into approving a fraudulent transfer. - Outseer’s framing suggests banks may need more context from behavior, device signals and transaction patterns before releasing payments. - The age split implies working-age consumers are bearing most of the pressure, with the highest exposure among people in their 20s and 30s.

What's next: - Banks are likely to keep testing background checks and other low-friction controls that can flag manipulation before money leaves an account. - Outseer says fraud prevention should combine behavioral biometrics, device intelligence, transaction signals and broader risk context to identify when an authenticated customer is not acting with genuine intent. - The company argues that consumers are receptive to protection that works in the background, which could shape how financial institutions design future scam defenses.

The bottom line: - In India, scam risk is increasingly about persuasion, not just intrusion, and the survey suggests customers want banks to do more before a payment is completed.