New Delhi: In India, 7 out of 10 customers have become a victim of Tech Support Scam in the last year. Microsoft’s Global Tech Support Scam Research Report-2021 states that the rate of Indian customers becoming victims of tech support fraud in the last 12 months has been around 70 percent. Something similar happened in the year 2018 as well. Even then 70 percent of Indian consumers were hit by it. In contrast, there has been a 5 percent reduction in tech support frauds globally in the same period. According to the report, 59 percent of the people globally were the target of fraudsters.
58% of youth lost money
Nearly half of the surveyed customers in India, or 48 percent, continue to be victims of such frauds. It has increased by 8 percent as compared to the year 2018. This has been three times the global average of 16 percent. 1 in 3 people surveyed, or 31%, continued to interact with fraudsters and lost their money. It increased by 17 percent as compared to 14 percent in 2018. In India, in the year 2021, the young population in the age group of 24-37 was highly likely to be a victim of such fraud. In this age group, 58 percent of people lost money. In India, 73 percent of men who interacted with fraudsters feared losing money.
6500 complaints are received every month
Tech company Microsoft receives about 6,500 complaints of being a victim of technology fraud every month from all over the world. However, these have now decreased. Till a few years ago, the average number of these complaints per month was 13,000. Mary Jo Schraded, Assistant General Counsel (Asia, Regional Lead), Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, said that the number of tech support frauds is increasing all over the world. In this, people of all ages are targeted. The survey revealed that Indian customers are more likely to be the target of such frauds than the rest of the world. In fact, Indians do less unheard of fraudsters and are cheated more.
