When we think of India's biggest financial scandals, names such as Harshad Mehta and Abdul Karim Telgi come to mind. Their cases exposed serious weaknesses in the systems meant to protect people and their money. Today, financial fraud and digital scam looks very different. A phone call or a convincing message can be enough to make someone transfer their life savings to a stranger.

As India observes Cyber Security Awareness Month this October, the scale of the problem is difficult to ignore. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, India recorded 24,02,579 financial cyber fraud complaints in 2025, involving Rs 22,495 crore. These numbers give us an idea of how widespread the problem has become, even if the losses cannot be directly compared with those linked to earlier financial scandals.