New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS): As many as 5,278 cases of fraud were reported by leading private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank in the first quarter of the current financial year, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data.

Though the data does not mention the nature of frauds and the quantum of amount involved in the fraud cases reported by Kotak Mahindra Bank, the volume of frauds in such a short time span looks alarming.

The bank on its part said that the instances reported as fraud also include phishing, vishing, skimming and other such activities and even pointed out that 97 per cent of the 5,278 cases were card related frauds which occurred due to "customers unwittingly compromising their credentials".

All such activities, however, come under the category of fraud and the fact that Kotak Mahindra Bank has reported such incidents as fraud with the RBI underlines this all the more clearly.

"The total number of frauds reported by Kotak Mahindra Bank, in line with regulatory requirements, also include instances of skimming, phishing, vishing, e-commerce frauds, across debit cards, credit cards, UPI, mobile banking, internet banking, payment gateways etc., regardless of whether customers or the bank faced losses, or whether the fraud amounts were recovered eventually," said a statement issued by the bank.

It further said that out of the 5,278 instances, 97 per cent were digital and card-related frauds that occurred due to customers unwittingly compromising their credentials by clicking on unknown links, or giving access to their devices or sharing their credentials with unscrupulous individuals willingly.

Experts say that whether a customer looses out on money due to card related frauds or by clicking on unknown links, it is categorised as a fraudulent activity and such instances are reported to the RBI by all the banks, as has been done by Kotak Mahindra Bank.