With the increasing use of online banking, there is an increase in risk of fraud while doing online transactions. Now a days, it is very easy to access your bank account from anywhere like at the vegetable shop or barber shop. One can easily access the bank account and transact on the spot. In this era of “Everything online” it is become imperative to protect your bank account from the online fraud.
Let’s have a deeper look on why and how can you protect your bank account and enjoy the banking on your fingertips. First let’s understand why you need to secure your bank account. What all type of fraud is happening in the country. What steps you must take to ensure that you do not become the victim of online fraud.
Why you need to protect your bank account?
Well, with the massive growth in the digital transactions, there is also a uptick in the online frauds. If you see the trend below from year 2009 to 2022, you can see the drastic uptick in the online banking fraud. Highest online banking fraud was reported for the financial year 2019-20 for 1850 billion rupees.
On the other hand the number of first time online banking users are also increasing rapidly. Government and banking sector both are encouraging the online transactions through web portal and mobile app.
Cyber criminals are always keeping themselves one step ahead of us. They are very innovative in finding new ways to con the innocent people in a different ways. There are various ways of doing an online fraud ranging from out calling the people in the name of bank, UPI QR code fraud, credit card PIN fraud and many more.
In India, if you see the digital transformation has taken a place after the UPI payment method is introduced by NPCI. Below is the UPI payment trend since year 2016 to till date. You can see the increasing trend in the UPI transaction. The amount of UPI transaction is increasing many fold. UPI payments are very easy and faster than any other online payment mode. You don’t need to enter the OTP every time you sent the money to anyone. With this encouraging trend, the online fraud also increasing day by day.
How to protect your bank account from online fraud?
The online fraud is not limited to consumers like you and me. The increasing number of data breach and fraudulent e-mail targeting retail customers also become a headache for the businesses.
So it is critical that we become more vigilant and alert and secure our data and adopt best practices to prevent online frauds. Here are some of very important points that you must keep in mind to secure your bank account.
Password is everything online
Never ever share your password with anyone, be it your friend or family members. Because if not you, they might unknowingly fall in the trap of the cyber criminals and become the victim of online fraud.
Second most important thing about the password is to make it strong password that no one can judge. I mean don’t ever keep your password as your birthday or your bike/car number etc. They are easy to predict and cyber criminal know this human phycology. They will run a password matching script and in no time they will judge your password. They will try those password and bingo! one will work for them and you are gone. Also, never keep the same password for all the logins.
Now you must be thinking how to manage/remember so many passwords. To make thing easy for you, there are many password keeper software available on the internet. I myself is using Enpass password manager. This password manager is so versatile, that you can add any type of data/information in the given templates. Even you can create your customized template by yourself. The best thing about this password manager app is it is completely and offline app. Means your data is stored on your mobile/laptop only. They do not store your data on their server. I am using this app since last 7 years and I can’t walk a step without this app.
You may try this or any other app you like/comfortable with, but use the one to manage your passwords.
Unknown is Dangerous
Never share your financial and banking details to any unknown person. You might receive a call from your bank asking for your PIN number. Remember, no bank in the world is calling their customer and ask for the password/PIN etc. They are fraudsters who are calling you by the name of your bank and will wash your bank account if they get your details.
Don’t fall for any prize winner scheme who are asking for your bank details or ask you to deposit some money in order to get the prize. You are not that lucky to receive a sudden wind fall of money.
Use 2 Factor Verification
Now a days, banking and other financial institutes are providing 2 factor authentication. This gives you an extra layer of security while log on to the web/mobile app. Without the 2nd authentication, you will not be able to log on in to the website. So if by any chance, your password is leaked and landed on the hacker’s hand, he will not be able to log on into the online bank account. This way you can protect your bank account and other important financial data. So it is good to use the 2 factor verification where ever is available.
What to do if you become a victim of online banking fraud?
If the hacker is smarter than you, then there is a chance that he will get your banking password and clean your account in no time. They are so smart that they do such activity in the night time as you are sleeping and your bank’s call center is also not available. This gives the hacker an ample time to clean your bank account without you notice it immediately.
If any online fraud happens to you, then you should immediately report to your bank and give them all the details of the fraudulent transaction. Also ask your bank to deactivate your online banking facility until the issue is sorted out. Transfer the funds (if anything is left) to other safer bank account immediately.
Second step is to report the fraud transaction on the Cyber crime department. Here is the website of Cyber crime through which you can report the online fraud transaction.
Conclusion
While using online banking website or app, you are always required to be alert and take the safety steps mentioned above to secure your account. By adopting the above steps, you can avoid any online fraud and protect your bank account from the fraudsters. Let me know in the comment box if ever you have become the victim of online banking fraud. also, please share this article with your friends and family to help them secure their bank account as well.
[jetpack_subscription_form]