In this technology era, performing activities such as online banking, online payment, online shopping can easily be done smoothly. But at the same time, with the help of technologies, financial frauds and online scams are growing at the faster pace. Now Cyber criminals have been creating different ways to know your details and access your bank accounts and mislead you.

There is no age, income, or skill barrier in falling a victim to financial fraud. One of the best way to prevent from falling to the financial frauds and online scams is to increase awareness regarding financial fraud and protecting yourself against those frauds.

What is financial fraud?

Financial fraud means a fraudulent way or a scheme to defraud money or assets (financial or personal) from a person or an organization. Scams generally involves fake emails, websites, calls or message to commit fraud from individuals.

Details which gets targeted are as follows:

• Bank details
• Credit card details
• Passwords
• OTPs (One-Time Passwords)

Personal identification data

Scams of these kind would usually try to imitate an institution or organization, such as your bank or a shopping website.

Top most types of online financial scams:

• Phishing scams: These scams are most commonly heard of all the other online scams. A criminal sends a message on email or a text message pretending to be from a genuine sender and asking for certain action from the victim, for example to, ‘verify account details’ or to ‘reset your password’, on clicking the link the customer would be taken to a fake official website.
• OTP and Banking frauds: In these type of scams, the victims are made to believe the sender is their bank and are asked to provide details likeOTP or credit card numbers, or internet banking password, etc. Banks never ask you to provide your private details over a call or message. Any information provided over a message is just leading yourself to a fraud.
• Fake shopping websites: A fraudsters will offer genuine product at really cheaper price to grab the customer and will deliver a fake product or deliver no product at all on receiving the payment. A brief search of shopping website might identify it as a fake.
• Investment frauds: A fraudster often claims to have the best offers in term of profits and losses from the investment made; however these types of scams are actually Ponzi Schemes, Fake trading websites, crypto currency scams, etc. As they say, if something sounds too good to be true, it generally is!
• Lottery and Prize Scams: A scammer will inform you have won a lottery or contest or prize. He or she will ask the victims to pay certain fee or charges/tax to redeem their prize. However, none of the real organization ask you to pay fees to win or claim your prize.

Use strong and unique passwords

Using a strong and unique password is the basic step in protecting yourself. Mostly the hackers try to gain access by ‘brute force’ attack (trying thousands of passwords) or cracking easy passwords. A strong password would have:

• Uppercase and lowercase letters
• Numbers and symbols
• A mix of the two

Do not have common words, birthdays, or any easily accessible information within the password. Secondly, never use the same password on two different accounts; if one gets hacked, all will be hacked. Password managers can generate and save these strong and unique passwords.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication or ‘2FA’ is the second layer of security. In this case, the verification includes not only a password but also a one-time password generated by a mobile application or sent over a text message to a trusted mobile number. It helps if your password is leaked or hacked. Many banks now recommend using two-factor authentication to ensure security.

Avoid sharing sensitive details

Financial fraudster would always try to cheat you over a phone call or through an email. Never share your private details with them over a call or through a message. These details may include:

• Bank account details
• OTPs
• Passwords
• PIN numbers
• Aadhaar number or social security number, etc.

Even if it’s from someone you may seem legit, always confirm their identity through their organization directly and independently before sharing any details. Also, be careful on sharing personal details over social media.

Verify Websites and Payment Links

Always verify if the website or any payment link you receive on text or mail is a legitimate one by checking for a padlock and ‘https://’ in the address bar. Typing in the website address manually will prevent yourself from accessing fraudulent websites.

Update Software Regularly

Outdated software applications and operating systems often have security loopholes that cybercriminals can exploit. It is important to regularly update all software, applications, and operating systems on your device. This protects your system from these potential vulnerabilities and also provides latest security patches to the system. Also installing antivirus software and firewall can help.

Beware of Public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi in places like cafes, malls, or airports can be an easy target for cybercriminals to attack you. Avoid accessing any of your bank accounts or making any financial transactions while you’re connected to a public Wi-Fi network. Use your mobile data or a secured Wi-Fi connection or a VPN instead.

Regularly Monitor Transactions

Checking your bank account, statements, and transactions regularly will help you detect unauthorized activity and potential fraud. Set up transaction alerts to be notified of any unusual activity on your accounts. Always review your bank statements for any suspicious transactions and report any discrepancies as soon as possible.

Educate Family Members

When you involve people around you who may be less tech-savvy such as children or elderly people into online banking, be aware that they can be more vulnerable to these online frauds. Inform your family members on how to stay safe while online, identify online scams, and not to fall for any such tricks over internet or a call.

What to do if you have fallen victim to fraud

• Contact your bank immediately.
• Block your ATM/Debit/Credit card and internet banking details.
• Change all your account passwords.
• Report the crime to the nearest cybercrime unit.
• Monitor your bank accounts.

Conclusion

With the help of digital transaction, new kinds of financial frauds and online scams have been growing in a rapid pace. A awareness to know more about such financial frauds and protection are very important so that they do not become the victims to them. A step-by-step method in using safe password, two-factor authentication, being alert and aware can prevent them from becoming victim of such scam.