GSMA’s latest consumer‑scam report, released on 28 August 2026, reveals that 12% of Indian adults fell victim to online fraud in the past 12 months, a figure that underscores the widening reach of digital malfeasance.
Among the fraud types, e‑commerce accounts for 33% of incidents, followed closely by prize, lottery and inheritance scams at 31% and job or income scams at 30%, while QR‑code or payment‑link frauds represent 27% of reported cases.
The mechanisms used to reach victims are equally diverse: 42% of scams employ messaging apps, 37% use social media and 33% rely on email, with 21% involving offline QR codes and payment links, illustrating that the same tools that enable convenience also facilitate exploitation.
Artificial intelligence has intensified the threat. 89% of respondents reported encountering AI‑generated content in scams, with 48% citing AI‑written messages, another 48% fake AI images, 47% fabricated AI profiles or ads, and 42% deepfake videos of real people, a trend that demands immediate regulatory attention.
Victim behaviour has shifted dramatically: 72% of consumers say scams have altered their online habits, and 42% believe the risk of hacking is escalating. Only 5% admit to taking no protective step; the rest have installed security tools (37%) or now verify official numbers before responding to suspicious calls (27%).
When confronted with fraud, 86% of victims sought help from at least one organisation; 49% turned to police, 41% to banks or e‑wallet providers and 40% to the offending platform. Yet 14% of victims did not approach any entity, and 7% reported none of the above.
GSMA’s findings call for concrete action: regulators must enforce tighter authentication protocols for telecom and payment services, while operators should deploy AI‑defense mechanisms within the next 12 months to curb the rising tide of sophisticated scams.