According to a recent survey by Telenor, Indians are losing more money to online scammers than their Asian counterparts. According to statistics, 36% of Indians have been cheated online, representing an average financial loss of around Rs 8.19 lakh per person due to internet scams, compared to Rs 6.81 lakh per person in Asia. The survey further reveals that 17% of respondents have fallen prey to fake banking email fraud.
Fraudsters can try to trick you in different ways into giving them your personal and security details. Here are some of the most common online banking scams –
Trojan: Trojan is an internet virus that gets installed on your computer while browsing the internet or downloading from untrusted websites. . Once a Trojan is installed in your system, the malware monitors your online activities and reads/steals sensitive information such as passwords and credit card numbers etc.
Phishing emails: As the name suggests, these are scam emails claiming to come from the authorized channel. Explaining phishing scams in more detail, Deepak Kinger, Vice President, Banking and Financial Services, VirtusaPolaris, a fintech company serving leading software vendors in banking and financial services, said, “Phishing is to install “malware” or “spyware” that reads sensitive customer information, including customer details, passwords and PINs at the point of contact on the channel. This channel can be an ATM, an online banking site, a mobile banking application or the payment interface on an e-commerce site.
Money Mule / Extra Earnings Email Scam: Money Mules are unwitting victims, invariably job seekers and those looking to make easy money online. They are lured by scammers posing as companies with websites and offering them a high commission for doing a small job or a huge salary for part-time work from home.
These scammers will either ask you for an upfront payment as an investment, which will give you stupendous returns, or offer you a commission for making trades using your account. It will ask you for your bank account details and deposit money into it and then ask you to transfer it to the accounts of other money mules on a commission basis. This transfer of funds could lead you to criminal offenses.
Speaking about the risks of using smart phones, Kinger said, “In today’s environment, the threat of fraud on the mobile channel is much higher than on other channels. Many users install apps on their phones that grant unconditional access to their data. and other apps installed on the phone. These ‘malware’ apps can then monitor your entries on a mobile banking app for example and retrieve sensitive data to pass on to the owner of the app.”
Here are 8 tips for using Internet banking safely:
1. Always use genuine antivirus software
To protect your computer from phishing, malware, and other security threats, always use genuine antivirus software. Antivirus helps detect and remove spyware that can steal your sensitive information.
2. Avoid using public Wi-Fi or use VPN software
The biggest threat of an open Wi-Fi network is that the hacker can come between the end user and the hotspot and can trace all the data without any difficulty. Hackers see an unsecured connection as an opportunity to introduce malware into your device. Thus, the use of public Wi-Fi hotspots for internet or mobile banking and payments on e-commerce sites should be avoided.
However, if you are a regular user of public Wi-Fi, consider setting up VPN software on your computer. It creates a secure tunnel between the computer and the Internet and prevents hackers from intercepting traffic.
3. Check for the latest updates of your Smartphone’s operating system
Smartphone users should ensure that their operating system is updated with the latest patches and security updates. They also shouldn’t remove the phone’s security controls, often referred to as “jail breaking” or “rooting.” They should always seek to restrict the access requested by apps when installing them to what the app really needs.
4. Change your password regularly and make sure it’s strong
It may sound cliché, but it’s important to protect your account and help you maintain privacy. And needless to say, do not share your details with anyone. Your bank will never ask you for your confidential information over the phone or by email. If you’ve written down your banking passwords in a notebook or dairy, make sure they’re kept private.
Also, be sure to choose strong and long passwords. To enhance the security of financial transactions through Internet banking, create and maintain different passwords for login and for transactions.
5. Subscribe to mobile notifications
If you haven’t already, do it now. These notifications will quickly alert you to any suspicious transactions. Whether the transaction exceeds or falls within the specified limit, you will receive an alert that will tell you the remaining account balance. Not just transactions, the bank will alert you to failed login attempts to your net-banking account.
6. Avoid logging into your online banking account through shippers
It is always safer to enter the bank’s URL yourself than to be redirected to it via promotional mail or any other third-party website. As mentioned earlier, a bank will never ask you for your account login information. So if there is a scam email offering to redirect you to your bank’s website and you enter your personal information on the homepage after clicking on it, there is a huge risk that your login credentials are stolen. Therefore, if you receive an email from a bank asking for login information, treat it with suspicion.
How do I know if a web page is secure?
Usually, when browsing the Internet, website URLs begin with the letters “http”. However, on a secure connection, the displayed address should start with “https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/spend/8-tips-to-use-internet-banking-safely/articleshow/https” – note the “s” at the end.
So, when logging in, check ‘https://’ in the URL, which ensures that all communication between your browser and the website is encrypted and ensures that it is the genuine website of your bank. . Also, the lock icon before the ‘https://’ is insurance for a secure connection.
7. Do not use public computers to connect to net banking
If you use a public computer, the risk of compromising your login credentials is higher. However, if you must connect from these locations, be sure to clear cache and browsing history, and delete all temporary files from the computer. Also, never allow the browser to remember your username and password. Or just go incognito.
8. Check your account regularly
Most banks have a “last login” or “login history” tab on their websites. So, if you notice any irregularities, change your password and contact your bank immediately.
Points to note when using mobile banking and ATM cards
1. “For mobile banking, consumers should only use the official app provided by the bank and downloaded only from the official app stores of Apple, Google and Windows. They should be especially wary of ‘aggregating’ apps that claim to provide a consolidated view of the account across banks – they may contain viruses/malware,” Kinger advises.
2. Explaining the modus operandi and ways to avoid card skimming, Kinger said: “In the case of card skimming, fraudsters install a device on top of the card reader in ATMs that blends ATM equipment and stores the credit/debit card. This information is then retrieved by the fraudster by copying it to the magnetic stripe of another blank card and used to make purchases or withdraw cash at the name of the real account holder. look for suspicious equipment covering the card reader to prevent card skimming.”
