Availing Loan Moratorium: Here's How Fraudsters Are Tricking
After the moratorium on term loans has been allowed by RBI and then banks following it are revealing their scope of action on it, fraudsters seem to venture on this opportune as well.
Here's how:
Take for instance the case of State Bank of India, which in its recent tweet said that for availing moratorium on your availed credit facilities from the bank do not need to share the OTP or one-time password received on your registered mobile number with the bank.
The message came in as there were chances of cyber threat on the benefit wherein hoax calls may be received by bank borrowers asking them to share the OTP received for availing moratorium grant on loans, and once the customers give in to their demand and furnish OTP, immediately money is siphoned off from their financial instrument.
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. For details on EMI Deferment scheme, visit: https://t.co/wP3Xux99vI#SBI pic.twitter.com/2GZSHX3ONa
— State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) April 5, 2020
Also, similar advisory is being issued by other players in the industry including ICICI Bank which said, "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". For the same, the bank for information is using channels such as e-mails and social media sites.
No bank will ever ask for your confidential banking details like OTP, user ID or password to postpone your EMI or interest payments (moratorium). Watch the video to know more. Stay alert, practice #SafeBanking. pic.twitter.com/8dJktuNrPr
— ICICI Bank (@ICICIBank) April 6, 2020
So, in light of the threat, ICICI Bank has come with a set of guidelines to abide by for avoiding such fraudulent incidences:
1. For availing moratorium relief on loans, bank will never call up or email for asking your confidential credentials and so never share such crucial information including net banking password, OTP, CVV, UPI Pin, bank customer id, debit or credit card number.
2. On the mobile banking app, you need to ensure that tabs such as 'Auto save' and 'Auto complete' are disabled. Never opt for feature such as save user ids or passwords on both net and mobile banking. Also opt out of auto fill function.
3. Also do not give in to phishing emails and provide your confidential information as this may lead to identity theft.
4. Ensure that you keep track of your bank account: For every transaction undertaken you need to taking care that the right amount is debited or credited and the discrepancy if any should be reported to the bank.
5. There may be also verification calls wherein caller pretends to be a bank rep and mislead you to yield in to their demand for confidential data. You can always call your banks regarding such calls when facing doubt.
GoodReturns.in