With the increase in online transactions, cyber fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated and are unlocking new ways to steal money from your bank account. To steal confidential information they would try to convince you by pretending to update your KYC details, suggesting re-KYC, offering jobs, threatening to block your account or talking about emergencies that do not exist.
Imposters are approaching customers pretending to be bankers, insurance agents, healthcare or telecom workers and government officials. They are seeking confirmation of confidential credentials by offering critical and essential services. In some instances, they put pressure on customers to share information urgently, citing account blocking, emergency, supply shortage of critical medical care products, and other threats.
They use these credentials to defraud the customers. This is in addition to traditional methods like unsolicited calls, text messages, and e-mails urging customers to share details of their bank accounts, login credentials, card information, PINs, and OTPs.
The fraudsters would also convince you to download unverified mobile apps to take control of your phone to gain access to confidential information.
To safeguard yourself from these frauds, here is a list of precautions that you can follow:
Never share your PIN or OTP
Remember that customers are not required to authenticate through PIN or OTP to receive money in their bank account. You should immediately raise an alarm on receiving any such request for sharing OTP/PIN. Also, remember your bank or any other institution will never ask for any confidential information.
Cyber frauds on the rise: Here is how to protect your data and money from fraudsters
Do not click unknown links
If the offers are too good to be true, then they are probably not true. If you click unknown links promising never-before-seen offers, there is a good chance that you will get directed to phishing websites which will expose you to the risk of being defrauded.
Use official websites to get the contact details
Fraudsters often provide customers with incorrect customer care numbers and trick them into believing that they are speaking to an authorised representative from their bank/insurance company. It is always better to reconfirm these contact numbers by visiting the bank/insurance company’s official website.
Never make payments on unknown job/e-commerce portals
Fraudsters use fake portal jobs to defraud customers who share their bank account details, debit cards, credit card, etc., during registration. Beware of such portals and avoid sharing your secured credentials on these platforms.
You stay alert and follow these simple steps, to keep your money safe. To protect their customers against cyber frauds, many banks have launched “Secure Banking Campaigns” through social media, text messages, e-mails and periodic notifications. It helps make the customers aware of the latest fraud modus operandi and the dos & don’ts of digital banking.