SBI, PNB & ICICI Bank Warned Customers To Never Share Confidential Information

Banking fraud happens when someone pretends to be a bank representative in order to steal money or other assets from a financial institution or its customers. Bank fraud has been a major source of concern for not just the government but also the banking sector and their customers. Although banks are constantly conscious of the need to improve their security framework in regard to regulatory mandates and/or increasing fraudulent accidents, the major concern is whether banks are doing anything or not?

Various Indian banks have released security warnings against cyber scammers in order to maintain the safety of their customers. Online scammers are active in cyber phishing via QR Code scanners, phishing email attacks, fraudulent customer service calls for stealing KYC details, credit card, debit card PIN or CVV number and the number of cases are increasing day-by-day according to these banks during the Covid-19 restrictions. They also warned their customers to avoid adopting phishing techniques used by fraudsters these days. They also stated that none of the banks request for their customers' credentials or personal information. Customers are being warned of a QR code scanner fraud. The State Bank of India (SBI) tweeted that scanning a QR code is for making a payment, not collecting money. The largest Indian commercial bank shared a tweet to its customers informing them of the situation. The bank has stated that "You don't receive money when you scan a QR code. All you get is a message that your bank account is debited for an 'X' amount. Do not scan #QRCodes shared by anyone unless the objective is to pay. Stay alert."

Comparably, Punjab National Bank (PNB) issued an alert to its customers about the phishing email attack. The bank urged customers to avoid such phishing e-mails because a single click may result in money being debited from their account. On its twitter handle the bank has recently posted that "धोखाधड़ी करने वालों के पास आपको गुमराह करने के कई तरीके मौजूद हैं। इसलिए हमेशा सतर्क रहें और फर्जी फोन कॉल एवं SMS के झांसे में न आएं।"

ICICI Bank, in a twitter post, cautioned its customers against revealing their banking credentials, such as their customer ID, credit or debit card PIN, and CVV numbers, among other details. Customers should be aware that banks will never press for sensitive details such as username and account password, One Time Password (OTP), Unique Reference Number (URN), and so on. On April 27, the bank posted a tweet stating that "Private confidential information, such as your CVV, passwords, OTP, PIN and card number should never be shared with anyone over call or SMS. Practice #SafeBanking".

We have tried here to cover banks' perspectives on some emerging developments, which we hope you'll find helpful.