Digital banking in Jammu and Kashmir has surged, but rising cyber fraud threatens to erode public trust, demanding stronger safeguards, regulations, and widespread digital literacy.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the digital revolution has been both swift and sweeping. With nearly universal financial inclusion, every salary, pension, and welfare benefit passes through bank accounts linked to Aadhaar, phones, and emails. More than 99 per cent of transactions are now digital, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has emerged as the dominant mode of exchange. But this march towards a cashless economy carries a shadow: a sharp rise in cyber fraud. For victims, the promise of convenience has too often turned into a nightmare of theft.
Consider the story of a well-read Srinagar resident who, while scanning news about the Jhelum, overlooked a message about money debited from her account. Within days, Rs 40,000 was gone. She had never even used UPI. Hackers worked quietly, testing the system with small deductions before finally emptying her account. The money, police later traced, was withdrawn from an ATM in Tripura. She is not alone. Near the cyber police station in Srinagar, Photostat shops now make a living drafting complaints for desperate victims, processing as many as twenty a day. Losses range from a few thousand rupees to as much as Rs 10 lakh.
This is not a local aberration but part of a national surge. Cyber frauds in India rose from Rs 2,306 crore in 2022 to Rs 22,842 crore in 2024, with projections to cross Rs 1.2 lakh crore this year. Fraudsters use social media platforms, malicious apps, phishing links, and even artificial intelligence to dupe people. While private banks report more incidents, public sector banks bear the brunt of the financial damage. In Jammu and Kashmir alone, more than 800 digital fraud cases have been registered in the past five years, but recovery has been negligible, barely 10 per cent of losses.
Banks, to their credit, send out routine advisories. “Never download unknown apps or click suspicious links,” JK Bank reminds its customers. But advisories alone are insufficient. Cyber literacy must become as essential as literacy itself. Awareness campaigns need to move beyond fine print and SMS alerts to active, community-level engagement. Just as financial inclusion was achieved with relentless effort, cyber protection requires similar urgency.
The scale of digital transactions in Jammu and Kashmir demonstrates trust in technology. But if that trust is repeatedly betrayed by fraudsters, the very edifice of digital finance could weaken. Stronger regulation, quicker redressal mechanisms, accountability for social media platforms that host fraud, and most importantly, a digitally literate society are the needs of the hour. Digital empowerment cannot be separated from digital security. Without one, the other is a dangerous illusion.
