Oh, Phish! It’s a trap.
Hey there,
A couple of weeks back, bang in the middle of the day, I got a call from my dad. Now my dad, all of 76, is quite the tech geek who roams social media fearlessly and texts much more than he calls. So I was surprised to get a call from him, that too in the middle of the day. Turns out, he was almost defrauded of a large amount of money by the ‘Jamtara gang’, the beloved group of financial scammers.?
The modus operandi was very simple. Way too simple, if you ask me.?
My father received an SMS from a number that was supposedly his bank. He was asked to re-do his Know Your Customer (KYC) procedure immediately, to avoid getting his account blocked.
Panicking, he clicked on a link that opened up a page that was almost a pixel-perfect clone of the homepage of his Internet banking module. As soon as he entered his ID and password, he received a call from a random number asking for an OTP that he received.?
This is where my father, god bless his OTT-devouring brain, refused to part with the OTP. Even as the caller on the other side coaxed, cajoled, and even threatened in not-so-polite Hindi.?
“Aap OTP nahi doge toh Account block ho jaayega Sir!”
While my Dad is in the vast majority of people who do not willingly part with their OTPs, 1-2% of recipients of these messages naively do so. A large enough number for a country like India to keep these fraudsters interested.?
In the first seven months of 2022, India saw more than 53 K Phishing scams reported. Another report by RBI shared by the Minister of State for Finance said in the Lok Sabha stated that frauds reported by Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) under the category "Card/Internet- ATM/Debit Cards, Credit Cards, and Internet Banking", involved around Rs 128 crore of Indian public in the financial year 2021-22.?
Now that’s a scary number.?
But that doesn’t really mean you should stay away from Internet banking and go back to the dark ages of in-branch banking, lunch breaks, and all.
Rather, it pays to be vigilant, aware, and street-smart to outsmart the devil.?
My Dad’s close made me examine these messages minutely. Here are 4 telltale signs I found that can help us spot them.??
1. Notice the number. If it’s a regular +91 98xxx 76xxx number and not an official-looking VM-ICICIB/VM-HDFCBK, it is likely a fraud.?
2. Don’t succumb to pressure! If the message has a mildly threatening tone alluding to ‘account block’ or ‘card expire’, rest easy. Remember, no bank can block or make defunct your account or card without your explicit permission
Pro tip: Such messages often have very short windows like Today, Next 24 hours, etc. and no dates like Sept 30 / Dec 31, which financial institutions generally follow.?
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3. Check for errors and typos. Genuine messages from banks use formal business language. They will seldom have grammatical errors like ‘Click Hare’ or use slangs slang like ASAP or? Plz.?
4. Look where you land. If the link URL mentioned in the SMS doesn’t have the bank’s domain name like hdfcbank.com or icici.com, it is likely to be a fraudster trying to phish you. ? 5.?
5. Educate those around you. It is not often enough to equip yourself against such scamsters. Equip those around you too - especially the elderly as well as the ones who do not have access to such information. Save them from being the next victim!
If you would like to learn more about what IDfy does, feel free to write to me at [email protected]
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