{"slug": "cyber-agency-warns-banks-fintech-firms-of-ai-powered-frauds-involving-multi", "title": "Cyber agency warns banks, fintech firms of AI-powered frauds involving multi-crore transactions", "summary": "India's Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and CERT-In jointly warned banks, NBFCs and fintech firms that attackers using Agentic AI frameworks are breaching unpatched software and misconfigured internet-facing servers and executing multi-crore unauthorised transactions at machine speed, with stolen funds moved to mule accounts via IMPS or NEFT. The advisories direct institutions to align defences with CERT-In's May 2026 blueprint for reducing exposure to AI-assisted vulnerability exploitation and to report incidents to CERT-In within six hours, with banks and NBFCs also notifying the Reserve Bank of India via its DAKSH portal in the same window. Home Ministry data shows more than 53.87 lakh cyber fraud complaints and over 1.81 lakh FIRs between financial years 2023-24 and 2025-26, with reported losses exceeding Rs 56,087 crore, of which over Rs 9,079 crore was marked as lien and over Rs 206 crore refunded so far.", "body_md": "New Delhi: India’s central cyber security agency has issued a stark warning to banks, non-banking financial companies and fintech firms about a rising wave of financially motivated cyberattacks powered by artificial intelligence agents that can compromise systems and execute fraudulent transactions at machine speed..The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Union Home Ministry, and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) have jointly advised financial institutions to urgently implement measures outlined in critical-severity advisories. The National Cybercrime Threat Analysis Unit of I4C noted that attackers often delete records to hide their tracks, adding layers of complexity to investigations..According to the advisory, hackers exploit unpatched software and misconfigured internet-facing servers to gain entry into institutional infrastructure. Customer-facing and complaint-handling interfaces are also potential targets. Once inside, they focus on automated fund disbursement systems and payment-related application programming interfaces (APIs). The use of Agentic AI frameworks enables these attacks to unfold at machine speed, resulting in multi-crore unauthorised transactions in individual cases..Stolen funds are typically transferred to mule accounts across different banks and quickly withdrawn through IMPS or NEFT channels. Perpetrators then erase digital footprints to hamper detection and recovery..AI Cyberattack Alert: CERT-In flags AI Agents attempting unauthorised access to govt websites.Financial institutions have been directed to align their defences with CERT-In’s May 2026 blueprint for reducing exposure to AI-assisted vulnerability exploitation, as well as cybersecurity frameworks set by sectoral regulators. They must report incidents to CERT-In within six hours of detection. Banks and NBFCs are additionally required to notify the Reserve Bank of India through its DAKSH portal within the same timeframe..Preventive steps recommended include maintaining a complete inventory of payment-related APIs, disabling obsolete or unused interfaces, and strengthening coordination between chief information security officers, transaction monitoring teams and IT departments..Home Ministry data shows that between financial years 2023-24 and 2025-26, more than 53.87 lakh cyber fraud complaints were registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. Over 1.81 lakh FIRs were filed, with reported losses exceeding Rs 56,087 crore. Of this, more than Rs 9,079 crore was marked as lien and over Rs 206 crore has been refunded so far.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/cyber-agency-warns-banks-fintech-firms-of-ai-powered-frauds-involving-multi", "canonical_source": "https://www.deccanherald.com/business/cyber-agency-warns-banks-fintech-firms-of-ai-powered-frauds-involving-multi-crore-transactions-4207796", "published_at": "2026-11-04 16:58:52+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-11-04 17:19:18.027320+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-safety", "ai-policy", "ai-agents", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre", "CERT-In", "Reserve Bank of India", "National Cybercrime Reporting Portal", "National Cybercrime Threat Analysis Unit", "Ministry of Home Affairs"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/cyber-agency-warns-banks-fintech-firms-of-ai-powered-frauds-involving-multi", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/cyber-agency-warns-banks-fintech-firms-of-ai-powered-frauds-involving-multi.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/cyber-agency-warns-banks-fintech-firms-of-ai-powered-frauds-involving-multi.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/cyber-agency-warns-banks-fintech-firms-of-ai-powered-frauds-involving-multi.jsonld"}}