Nagpur: While India's largest public sector lender continues to strengthen its fraud detection system, frauds involving State Bank of India (SBI) customers accounted for more than 30,700 cases in which Rs 6,313.4 crore was siphoned off in over three years — April 2023 to March 2026 — as per information obtained under Right to Information (RTI) Act.The RTI response also points to West Bengal as India's fraud hotspot. Though SBI did not disclose comparable figures for other states, it stated that Bengal clocked the highest number of fraud cases in this period, with 3,426 cases involving Rs 143.67 crore.The data reveals a worrying paradox — while the number of fraud cases has declined, the average amount involved per fraud has risen, suggesting that fewer but higher-value frauds are hitting the banking giant. The RTI reply to Nagpur-based activist Abhay Kolarkar was furnished by SBI's fraud prevention & monitoring department. While the number of cases fell from 14,717 in 2023-24 to 2,247 in 2025-26, the amount involved remained alarmingly high at Rs 1,745.23 crore in the last fiscal alone.The figures also expose the growing threat by digital payment platforms. Among various banking channels, UPI accounted for the highest number of fraud cases at 12,868, followed by internet banking with 8,657 cases. Together, the two digital channels accounted for more than 21,500 fraud incidents in the three-year period.Cyber frauds formed a big chunk of the cases in SBI — 23,580 cases involving Rs 166.73 crore between 2023 and 2026. While cyber con figures have declined in recent years, experts caution that increasingly sophisticated fraud techniques continue to pose serious risks to customers.The RTI response also highlights an uncomfortable reality within the banking system. Frauds involving SBI employees totalled 303 cases and caused losses of Rs 311.08 crore over the three-year period. Although employee-linked frauds fell from 114 cases in 2023-24 to 89 in 2025-26, the con amount rose last year to more than Rs 103 crore.SBI admitted it does not maintain specific data on victims of the increasingly reported "digital arrest" scams or the amount lost in such frauds, despite growing national concern over the menace. The data underscores how the rapid expansion of digital banking has opened new opportunities for fraudsters, making customer awareness, stronger cyber safeguards and tighter monitoring systems critical in the fight against financial crime.