At a time when many people in the country are facing financial troubles due to the lockdown, the government and entities like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have come out with various relief measures. One such measure that the RBI announced was the three-month moratorium or grace period for loan equated monthly instalments (EMIs) and credit card dues.
This is a slight ray of sunshine of borrowers, but do you know who else is trying to benefit from this? Fraudsters. It looks like nothing will stop fraudsters and scamsters, not even the coronavirus.
That is right. Banks have been alerting their customers of cyber frauds that can happen while availing EMI moratorium. For instance on Sunday, the State Bank of India (SBI) tweeted this: "Cyber fraudsters keep finding new ways to scam people. The only way to beat the #cybercriminals is to #BeAlert & be aware. Please note that EMI Deferment does not require OTP sharing. Do not share your OTP."
ICICI Bank, too, has been warning customers about this via emails to their customers and through social media. "In some cases, fraudsters are calling customers, asking them for an OTP to avail the moratorium announced by banks to defer their EMIs. Once the OTP is shared by the customer, the fraudsters siphon off money from their account immediately," ICICI Bank stated in an advisory.
To create awareness and protect customers from such fraudsters, ICICI Bank has come up with a safe banking advisory that it has shared with customers. These are few of the tips.
1) Do not share OTP to avail EMI moratorium: Your bank will never call you or send you an email for your OTP or password details to postpone your EMI or interest payments (moratorium). Never share any confidential or private information like OTP, debit/credit card numbers, CVV numbers, netbanking/mobile banking password, customer id, UPI PINs etc. with anyone asking for verification including bank employees.
2) Disable the 'Auto Save' or 'Auto Complete' features on your mobile banking app: Do not enable auto-fill or save user IDs or passwords for mobile banking and internet banking transactions. Though it's convenient, it can be risky.
3) Don't respond to phishing texts: Do not follow URL which you receive from unknown sources or disclose personal information or online banking credentials via e-mail or text message as these can be used for identity theft.
4) Beware of verification calls: The caller usually pretends to be a bank representative or someone from the bank's technical team. After giving a false sense of security, the caller then tricks the victim into giving away their personal and confidential data. When in doubt, always call or email the Bank or financial service institution related to your bank and ask them about the call.
5) Conduct account check-ups: It is equally important to be aware about your financial health. Regularly check your bank accounts to keep a track of your money. Each time you make a transaction, go back and check the balance to ensure that right amount has been paid or received. In case of any discrepancy, immediately contact your bank.
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