India recorded an alarming ₹22,812 crore in losses due to cyber fraud in 2024, according to a new report titled The State of AI-Powered Cybercrime: Threat & Mitigation Report 2025. Released by the Global Initiative for Restructuring Environment and Management (GIREM) and Tekion, the report reveals how AI-driven cyber threats have escalated sharply, turning India into one of the most targeted nations globally.
With 19.18 lakh cybercrime complaints registered in 2024 alone, up from 15.56 lakh the previous year, financial frauds continue to dominate the landscape. Notably, India now ranks second in the world for crypto attacks and has reported 95 major cyber incidents, placing it just behind the United States.
QR phishing tactics escalate across mobile-first users
The report highlights how attackers are increasingly using artificial intelligence to generate phishing content, with 82.6% of phishing campaigns in 2024 relying on AI. A major vector is QR code phishing, wherein users are tricked into scanning malicious QR codes that redirect them to fake UPI portals. Once there, their banking credentials are harvested and misused. This technique is proving especially effective in India’s mobile-first digital payments environment.
Fake posters, WhatsApp messages, and tampered URLs are being used to distribute such QR codes, resulting in widespread data theft across urban and rural areas alike.
Cybercrime spreading to rural and tribal India
While cities like Bengaluru remain hotspots—reporting 17,623 cases in 2023 compared to 9,940 in 2022—the report warns that the threat is no longer confined to urban regions. Cybercrime in rural Karnataka nearly doubled between 2022 and 2024, and even tribal areas reported their first-ever digital fraud incidents. In 2022, these areas had zero cases; in 2024, 12 cases were recorded.
This spread into regions with limited cybersecurity awareness marks a dangerous new phase in India’s digital expansion, where access to online services is growing faster than safeguards.
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Malware and ransomware up, crypto fraud spikes by 409%
The report outlines major year-on-year increases in threat categories: malware attacks rose by 11%, ransomware incidents by 22%, and IoT-related attacks jumped by 59%. However, the most staggering figure is the 409% surge in crypto-related attacks. This reflects a shift toward high-value digital fraud, where AI is increasingly being used not just to create threats, but to scale and automate them.
Urgent call for digital safety as India connects faster
The widening gap between digital access and digital safety is now a national concern. As rural and underserved regions embrace mobile payments, government services, and digital healthcare, their vulnerability to fraud increases. GIREM’s report concludes that cybersecurity must be treated not only as a tech issue but as a foundational pillar for digital trust and inclusion in India.
If left unaddressed, the pace of AI-driven cybercrime could erode public trust in digital platforms and stall progress on India’s ambitious digital transformation goals.
