“Prevention is better than cure” but in case you have not been able to prevent it, IFF Lab has the cure.
The recent demonetization in India accompanied by the government’s promotion of a cashless economy is certain to reap a bountiful of benefits for our nation. However, that puts an extra onus on the government and us to safeguard ourselves against financial frauds while using modes of e-payment. Credit and debit cards along with other modes of cashless payment have become a prevalent choice for most of us, owing to their convenience and most other times, due to complimentary offers or discounts offered by the banks or the e-wallet service providers. This gives an incentive to fraudsters who are constantly on a lookout to seek an opportunity to seize any loopholes in the system.
"Reserve Bank of India has quoted a 35% rise over the past 3 years in the incidents of card and net banking-related frauds in India"
Online financial fraud
Phishing Attacks
Disclosing confidential information such as username, password, card numbers, CVV etc. by responding to an e-mail, apparently from a trusted source. Such spoof e-mails direct the users to a fraudulent website.
Vishing Attacks
The act of using a landline or cellular telephone, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), or voice e-mail to trick individuals into revealing One Time Password (OTP) and other confidential information.
Smishing Attacks
Disclosing confidential information by responding to a spoofed SMS. Perpetrators often send fraudulent links or promotional SMS to lure an individual into opening it and falling prey to a financial fraud.
Internet/Mobile Banking Frauds
In spite of banks issuing warnings to abstain from divulging account details, PIN, and CVV to anyone over the phone, many tend to fall prey to phishing, smishing and vishing that enables stealing of internet or mobile banking credentials.
Watch out for the presence of skimmers in the card reading slot, light diffuser area, keyboard area, rain cover, side face and speaker area of an ATM machine.
Offline financial fraud
Card skimming
Cloning of a debit/credit card by installing a device called a ‘skimmer’ on a card reader slot, ATM rain cover which reads the information stored in the magnetic strip of a card, including the CVV number.
Pin capturing
Use of hidden cameras and/or other imaging devices inside an ATM to capture the PIN entered by a victim while using his card. This in conjunction with the skimmer helps perpetrators withdraw money from the victim’s account.
Keypad overlay
Installing a trick keypad overlay onto the factory-installed keypad of an ATM has evolved as a relatively new technique of recording the PIN by storing keystrokes.