If you are someone who has heard the terms, Phishing, Identity Theft, Internet Fraud etc then you must read this article.
So, lets get started!!!
What is Internet Fraud?
Internet Fraud is an illegal activity wherein a person in possession of internet banking details of another person, impersonates them to use their funds.
A Simple example would be:
Lets say, I find your wallet on the floor and while scanning it, I see a paper with an id and password. By seeing the Id I realize that it is your Internet Banking id & Password for your ICICI Bank account. I happily login to your account and transfer the money in your account to my account.
This is Internet Fraud...
Why Internet Fraud Happens?
Well, criminals are becoming more and more techie and finding out ingenious ways of stealing money. Most internet frauds result from poor customer awareness. The biggest concern for online customers is the possible theft of their online credentials, especially those relating to net banking.
This often happens without the customers’ knowledge, enabling fraudsters to steal money from their accounts in a recurring manner.
How to Prevent This?
Awareness...
We must be careful and follow certain tips & tricks to ensure that we do not fall prey to such anti-social elements.
Tip 1:
Make net banking passwords difficult to guess, change them regularly. Never share them with anyone.
Tip 2:
Before keying in sensitive information like user id or password, ensure the site is running in a secure mode by looking for the padlock symbol and https in the browser address bar. For example, look at the image below:
Tip 3:
Scan email attachments for viruses before opening them. When you are not sure about the source of an attachment, delete it. Dont have a second thought.
Tip 4:
Install a good anti-virus system on their PCs and ensure that it is updated regularly. There are many free anti-virus softwares available in the market. I am not saying that they are bad, but they might not have the resources of a paid anti-virus software like Symantec or Mcaffee.
Tip 5:
Don’t share your password or CVV details orally with bank executives either in person or on phone. Bank officials will never ask for confidential information like user ID, password, CVV, etc, via mail, SMS or bank initiated phone calls.
Tip 6:
Don’t access bank website from a link provided in an email from any source. Instead, type the address of the bank website in the address bar of browser to access the bank account. Don’t click on any link provided in emails, they may redirect users to a fake/phishing site.
Example:
www.icicibank.com
If you see the above link, it says www.icicibank.com but if you take your mouse pointer over it, you can see that the link actually is taking you to a scam website and not the icici website. If this page looks exactly like the ICICI website, you may enter your login details and kabooom, your id/password is stolen and only god can save the cash in your account.
Tip 7:
Never write down user ID, password on piece of paper or store it in your phone for easy retrieval.
Tip 8:
Never use the ‘remember password’ feature provided by browsers to save net banking passwords.
Tip 9:
Don't access Net banking from cyber cafes. If you have to, use the virtual key board to key in details and ensure you log out of the system once you are done. An even better idea would be to clear the browser cache & cookies before you log-off.
Tip 10:
Be cautious while using Net banking from office. Even though your colleagues are all nice people and you respect/trust them, you never know when temptation or jealousy can cause people to do things. Better safe than sorry
Happy Protecting your Money!!!
