ATM Fraud:Three Steps To Stay Safe From Data Breach

With ATMs being the most convenient option for withdrawing cash using an ATM, debit or credit card are also being misused by fraudsters to withdraw money from somebody else’s account without their knowledge. These instances of cash disappearing from account is on the rise and people are being warned to be wary of using their ATM cards.

According to a recent news report in TOI, 61 account holders of Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) Vasant Vihar branch in New Delhi lost Rs 15 lakh to fraudulent transactions. As per media reports, these transactions happened within a span of three days.The bank has now approached the police with the complaint for recovery of the cash which was stolen without the customers knowledge

Several customers of PNB approached the manager of Vasant Vihar branch in New Delhi on April 8, complaining about the unknown transactions being carried out from their accounts. from various ATMs. The bank made a list of complainants and to their shock found that 61 people had lost money from their accounts. The exact amount siphoned off was Rs 14, 97,769.

The police are suspecting that this is either an act of skimming or there has been an internal leak of customers' data from the bank.

Skimming

In this method fraudsters steal the card information by using a small device (skimmer) during a legitimate ATM transaction. Whenever the card is swiped at the merchant's machine, skimmer steals the information stored on the card's magnetic strip. It transmits the information to the fraudster, who then clones the card using this information. The skimmer is attached in the card slot of ATM's or merchant payment terminals. This is also called phishing.

To prevent such breach of data the bank has asked the customers to protect their information and prevent breach of data through these three easy steps.

Step 1: Enable auto lock for your devices

Step 2: Use a PIN for your SIM to prevent people from making use of it, if stolen.

Step 3: Set a password for your memory card

Vishing

Vishing which is very similar to phishing is generally done through phone calls. In this method, the fraudster poses as an employee from a bank or a financial organization asking for your personal details. They ask for confidential personal and banking information, such as your card PIN or password. They try to convince or scare you with information like your card has been blocked or PIN needs to be changed.Unfortunately many people fall prey to these calls and have lost money. It should be noted that banks generally do not ask for such details and to authenticate a customer, banks normally ask a customer’s date of birth, email ID etc. just for validation.

Also Read: ATM Fraud, The Digital Equivalent To Pick Pocketing