ABSTRACT:Digital payments in India have made everyday transactions faster and easier, but also more vulnerable to phishing, fraudulent QR codes, fake customer-care calls, OTP scams and other forms of cyber-enabled financial fraud. One key question is: do users who are aware of these threats always act safely when presented with realistic payment scenarios? This study examines the awareness-behaviour gap of the digital payment users in India. Cross-sectional quantitative, descriptive and analytical design was used. Primary data were gathered by using a structured online questionnaire and 233 valid responses were obtained. Survey responses were used to create an Awareness Score and a Safety Practice Score, and multiple safety-related behavioural indicators were combined into an exploratory Behaviour Index. The analysis involved descriptive statistics, Spearman’s rankorder correlation, chi-square tests of independence, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. The respondents showed generally strong levels of reported awareness and safety practices. The mean Awareness Score was 4.30/6, the mean Safety Practice Score was 3.91/5 and the mean Behaviour Index was 76.68%. Behaviour was positively but weakly correlated with both safety practices (ρ=0.162, p=0.013) and awareness (ρ=0.147, p=0.025). There was a significant association between awareness and the QR-code scenario (χ2(2) = 9.993, p = 0.0068, Cramer’s V = 0.207) but not the phishing scenario (χ2(2) = 1.242, p = 0.537, Cramer’s V = 0.073). The results indicate that knowledge of fraud is helpful but not enough to ensure consistent protective behaviour. The study thus recommends moving away from awareness-only campaigns to scenario-based learning, repeated behavioural practice and stronger platform-level safeguards.
KEYWORDS: Digital payment fraud; cybersecurity awareness; user behaviour; cyber safety practices; QR-code fraud; phishing; digital payments; awareness–behaviour gap; India.
THE AWARENESS BEHAVIOUR GAP IN DIGITAL PAYMENT FRAUD: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF CYBER SAFETY PRACTICES AND FRAUD VULNERABILITY AMONG DIGITAL PAYMENT USERS IN INDIA
DR. PRAJAKTA AMEYA JOSHI, AKSHAY NALIN CHHEDA