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We live in an era where banking and trading are almost entirely shifted into the virtual realms. While it is unwise to overlook the numerous benefits of online banking and virtual transactions, one cannot deny the fact that this has also opened up a plethora of opportunities for scammers and fraud to explore as every single day they seem to find new ways and avenues to commit banking fraud. And this issue has been highly explored through pop culture and a variety of other means. A lot of movies and TV series have explored the slimy underbelly of the part of society which is primarily responsible for online banking fraud.
These diverse and vibrant portrayals of the banking fraud in such a popular medium have in large parts led to the rise in awareness of the general populace against such scammers. But even today there are hundreds of people who fall prey to foul play by these criminals as they see their entire life’s savings by fraud and scammers in the blink of an eye. So it is imperative to have the ability to recognize banking fraud and prevent such situations from happening to yourself.
Let us look at some of the ways in which we can arm ourselves against banking fraud and save our money from getting potentially wiped out.
Keep your financial data separate:
We all have a tendency to save our personal data and banking data in our professional pcs because it is easier to access when we need it. But what we fail to grasp is by doing this, we are making ourselves highly susceptible to banking fraud. Because malicious emails, which we know as spam emails, are sent on a regular basis to almost every email account. And a single click on the links enclosed in any one of the mails can lead to scammers and hackers taking over your entire system and your personal banking details with it.
After that you can easily imagine to what use they would put that data too. So the easy and simple way to fix your risk of banking fraud in this situation is to keep your financial data separate in another system. And whenever you use that system, make sure that you stay away from all forms of malicious websites and software and use it solely for your personal uses.
Online card fraud:
There are a number of websites and supposed shopping sites which have popped up online which promise to give your products at a fraction of the market cost in lieu of online card payment. These websites, in most cases, after taking your money send you a counterfeit item or a box full of soap or stones. But some sites even use the card information that you entered to commit serious banking fraud. They can save your card details and use them for extortion, cyber crimes and a plethora of other banking fraud.
The easiest way to resolve this issue is to always opt for the option of cash on delivery while purchasing anything from anywhere other than a well reputed website. Or if there isn’t any cash on delivery option, go online and go through the reviews and read if the site can be relied or not. If you find even a single review which is calling out the website for faulty behavior, refrain from dealing with that website. The best way to survive banking fraud of this kind is to not purchase anything from unreputed websites through cards or net banking. And if cash on delivery isn’t available then try to not purchase anything through that websites altogether.
Do not disclose your card details and pin:
A lot of scammers all across the country call customers under the pretext of their cards getting blocked or their accounts getting frozen. And they being naïve and scared about their money, give up their card details including the card number, name on card and the cvv number on the back of the card. And then they trick people by saying that the bank had sent an OTP message to the customer and they ask the customer for it, apparently to verify their account or card. And once they get the OTP, the banking fraud scheme is complete. As now they can withdraw as much money as they can from the account.
This is one of the most common and widely practiced banking fraud in the whole world. A proper bank personnel never would ask you for your bank details or card details for that matter. So any time anybody asks you for your personal bank details and card details, disconnect the call immediately and inform the adjoining police station’s cyber crime unit.
Don’t believe every text message, email or call you to receive:
Every year potentially millions of people around the globe receive numerous text messages and calls stating that their mobile number had won an absurdly large sum of money. The huge sum of money in question makes a lot of people lose all their senses, and divulge all their card details and account details to these fraudulent websites. These scammers then complete the banking fraud by completely washing out the bank balance of the concerned accounts. The tip to save you from these sort of banking fraud is pretty simple. Understand that nothing in life comes for free, so never ever respond to lottery texts which say that you have won an absurd amount of money out of nowhere.
Don’t be robbed of your senses by love:
They say that love is blind. And the saying is apt for this kind of banking fraud. There are a number of people who have reported of being scammed by their online lovers. When people fall in love with people online, they do not bother to check whether the person on the other end is actually in love or scamming them. The only advice we can give regarding this is while falling in love, keep your eyes open and senses alert. It is a bumpy ride, but if you go in blindly, it may literally turn into a bumpy road.