Tips to avoid internet banking frauds
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 28 December 2011, 00:42 IST   |    5 Comments
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Bangalore: Rajeev an exporter by profession is a resident of New Delhi. He checked his account last week; he was in for a shock. A huge chunk of money nearly 1.66 Crore was missing from his account. The money had been drawn off to accounts in other banks through Net banking and the transactions had taken place over a period of five days. And keerti went through a severe torment after reckoning the blunder she committed. Keerti receives a call from that stated they were the bank authorities in which she has an account. They said they were having a verification check on customers to improve fund transfer system as a safety measure to stop phishing and frauds. They already had the details of keerti (her name, account details). She just had to answer to the list of questions he they asked. After the check told her she would receive a message on her phone mentioning a payee has been added through fund transfer along with a PIN number. Keerti was asked to share the PIN number she received on her phone. The entire conversation was extremely professional and flawless. But little did keerti realize that she was victim for online banking fraud. The moment she shared the PIN number her complete saving was wiped out from her account. When she called back to bank to check, she found out there no such check conducted and was asked to file a FIR as her account was being hacked. Keerti was devastated. Just like Rajeev and keerti, many are a victim of net banking fraud. The cases of online frauds have increased and banks are looking for ways to protect their online banking channel. Most online banking fraud schemes involve two steps. First, the criminal obtains the customer's account access data, the log in name and password. Second, the criminal uses this information to transfer money to other accounts and withdrawals the funds. These are ways you can guard yourself against net banking frauds Spams Online transaction has a great leap over the past. Despite the latest technology used by the banks to secure the details of their account holders, the information is still widely being compromised. The hackers get their bit of information they require. The manners of crime these hackers follow is, one by sending electronic junk mails or messages which require a customer to enter their personal information in order to purchase something. These mails are referred to as Spams. In case you recieve such mails, do not click on any the links and report to your bank immediately on receiving any spams. Phising The other type is where the person's personal details are obtained by fraudsters posing as bankers, who float a site similar to that of the person's bank. They are asked to provide all personal information about themselves and their account to the bank on the pretext of database upgradation. The number and password are then used to carry out transactions on their behalf without their knowledge. To avoid this it is recommended you do not opt for remember the password option in your system. Keep changing your password after regular intervals and memorize your password. Spyware You may be flabbergasted to know that your personal system can also be used to obtain your account details. The softwares that are being installed in your computer without your knowledge differ from the original software. This software store the information of the customer for the offender to access it. So what you can do is to check for regular security updates on your system. Do not have the obsolete firewall protection. Check for URLs Fraudsters can lure you to enter your user ID and password at a fake website that resembles your bank. If you see anything other than the bank's genuine URL, it has to be fake. False phone calls Similar to keerti even you could be tapped with just telephonic conversations that may ask you to reveal your personal account PIN or other critical information linked to banking account. Make sure you always check for SMS updates you receive on your mobile phone and check the veracity immediately. Most the banks now provide the option where you don't have to reveal the details and account number over the phone. You can type the number with the help of the keypad. Secure your account You can secure your account by avoiding online banking on unsecured wifi systems. Never reveal password to anyone. Your passwords should be alphanumerical. Never reply to queries from bank online about account or personal details. If you have several bank accounts, never use the same online banking password for all. Always check last logged Most banks provide the option of a 'last logged in' panel on their websites. Here you can check the panel whenever you log in. If you notice irregularities report the matter immediately to your bank and change your password right away. Always log out when you exit the online banking portal. Never exit simply by closing the browser. Public PC's Avoid net banking services at cyber cafes. Because most of the times the frauds steal data from public computers or shared PCs. The fraud here takes advantage of unsecured cyber cafes. You never know the cyber owner could also be a fraud who wants to get access to the personal information of the user. Be very cautious.