Illegal transactions worth Rs 421 lakh crore in the global financial system: AI becomes the biggest weapon of cyber criminals, 84% experts consider it a serious challenge.

According to the survey report, 48% are able to track fraud after the first payment comes and 26% after the money is withdrawn from the account. – Symbolic Image

AI has become the biggest weapon of cyber criminals. AI agents are easily dodging traditional security systems. In a global survey by cyber security firm Biocatch, 88% of banking professionals believed that AI has made fraud and scams more complex.

In 2025, illegal transactions worth about Rs 421 lakh crore took place in the global financial system. Out of this, Rs 55 lakh crore was a direct case of fraud. American agency FBI estimates that 85% of fraud cases are not registered.

Opinion of 1,440 fraud management and risk experts from 25 countries

Fraud attempts increased by 71%, losses increased by 59%

81% Experts say that fraud efforts are increasing in their organization. This increase will be 71% in 2025. 76% admitted that his bank’s losses from fraud had increased by 59% in just one year.

85% Financial fraud cases are not even registered. American agency FBI has made such an estimate.

These are the three biggest reasons for increasing global financial fraud

59% Bankers admitted that fraud is easier with an app that transfers money instantly.

45% Experts said that criminals get people to transfer money by luring them. 45% cited the use of AI technology as the reason.

These AI tech are most used in fraud

Deepfakes, Social Engineering (50%) – Cheating in the name of relatives/officials by copying voice and face exactly.

Automated phishing (48%) – Sending fake emails and messages on a large scale.

Automated Money Laundering (44%) – Moving money around quickly without human intervention.

The biggest and new threat is AI agents, it is difficult for most banking professionals to control them.

– 80% of organizations say they have already faced attacks using agentic AI. 84% believe that ‘AI agents’ may prove to be the biggest weakness of banks in the next one year.

– 72% believe that in the future, when AI agents initiate transactions, it will become extremely challenging to differentiate between legitimate AI-assisted transactions and malicious AI transactions of hackers/criminals.

Share bank real-time data

The report emphasizes that when criminals are working so fast, banks also need to work together to share data in real-time. 86% believed that if real-time information about the account receiving the money was available, it would be possible to stop fraud immediately.

The Power of Mule Accounts Fraud Ecosystem

Money mules (fake or rented bank accounts commonly used to launder funds) are the backbone of the fraud ecosystem. In 2024 alone, Biocatch’s clients identified 2 million money mule accounts. The problem is that only 20% of banks are able to catch such accounts the first time. According to the survey report, 48% are able to track fraud after the first payment arrives and 26% after the money is withdrawn from the account.

Make Dainik Bhaskar your favorite source on Google ➔