scorecardresearchFinancial frauds you should guard yourself against

Financial frauds you should guard yourself against

Updated: 27 Apr 2022, 01:14 PM IST
TL;DR.

Fraudsters have a range of excuses to take you for a ride which include the registration for vaccination & credit card fee waiver

One should make sure not to share your credit card details, aadhaar, PAN and OTP

One should make sure not to share your credit card details, aadhaar, PAN and OTP

As potential victims become familiar of the different gimmicks which the fraudsters deploy, the latter have also started to conjure up with novel ways to trick the innocent people. Gone are the days when it was a child’s play to differentiate between a genuine and fraud call. The line between a genuine caller and a fraudster is blurred so much that separating the wheat from the chaff is not easy anymore.

Here we list a number of ways in which financial fraudsters have been tricking the gullible customers:

For vaccination: As the fraudsters didn’t have it enough with other means of tricking the innocent people, they have started to fleece them by talking about Covid-19 vaccination. Imagine you get a call from someone who promises you Covid-19 vaccination or booster dose. Well, you might counter the person on the call by saying that it is permitted only on the COWIN app. To this, they will say that the call is meant for home vaccination – a facility not yet available on the app.

The registration is free, or at least they would claim so. All they would ask would be your PAN, address and mobile number. Then they would ask you to share the registration number sent on your mobile, which would – in fact – be an OTP. The moment you share the OTP, you would realise it was a ploy to seek a loan in your name and its proceeds were routed to an account linked to the caller. Surprise! Surprise.

To safeguard yourself from such untoward surprises, you should refrain from sharing your personal details such as PAN, Aadhaar, etc. And never ever share your OTP with anyone – no matter the circumstances.

Total number of frauds amounting to one lakh and above:

Year                            Number of frauds
2018-19                               6,798
2019-20                     8,703
2020-21                   7,363

(Source: RBI’s Report - ‘Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2020-21’)

Fake account number: Among several other ways to scam the gullible buyers, there is one wherein a caller would pose as an insurance agent and make an irresistible offer. They generally exhort the potential victims to grab the ‘offer’ as it is valid only for one day. They will then share their bank account number where you can make the ‘payment’ of insurance premium. After receiving the payment, they might even promise to send you the ‘policy document’ within a couple of weeks, but only for you to get disappointed.

ALSO READ: How to save yourself from online & UPI frauds?

Credit card fee waiver: Some scamsters pose as bank representatives and promise to waive off annual fee of your credit card. Beware that you might actually possess a credit card but every caller who claims to represent the bank you took the card from is not genuine.

Some banks tend to waive off credit card fee in the first year but you are meant to pay the fee in the next year. So, what these fraudsters would do is to call the credit card holders and share their card details to win their trust.

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They would then promise to waive off the card fee for the next year as well. Their modus operandi is simple. They would ask you to share the OTP sent on their cell phone. The moment you share the OTP, the damage is done!

So, be extremely careful not to share your financial data with anyone over a phone call or otherwise. While sharing your OTP is a complete no, you must not share your aadhaar card details, bank account number, credit card number or any such details.

First Published: 27 Apr 2022, 07:51 AM IST