Skip to main content

Do not answer to emails asking you to update Bank Account data

PHISHING is on the rise in India. A large number of bank account holders continue to lose money due to phishing attacks. According to IBM-X Force Trend and Risk Report 2010, which is based on the study of global networks, India tops the list when it comes to origins of phishing emails and has a global share of 15.5 per cent.


Although, the number of phishing emails originating in India is high, phishing URLs are mostly hosted in other countries. Banks and financial institutions are the main targets of fraudsters.

There have been phishing attempts at top private and government banks. A large section of customers of these banks got emails asking them to update their account details. Several customers of these banks responded to the mails and lost money. If you lose your money due to phishing, banks are not liable to pay back your money.

If a fraud has occurred because a customer compromised his password and personal details, a bank will not bear the loss of the customer. It is the job of the customer to protect his bank details.

How can you recognise a phishing mail? You would see a message in your inbox from your bank with which you have an internet-enabled account asking you to update your account with your personal information, passwords, usernames /login ID, ATM PINS and credit card details on the pretext of upgradation of server of the bank. You will be asked to click on a link. By clicking, you would be linked to a website that is identical to your bank. If you are smart enough, you would realise that this is a trap to get your vital information to make fraudulent transactions.

A few months ago, fraudsters in garb as officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) send emails to people asking them for their account details. The fraud came to light after people reported that they have received an email from the address update @rbi.org.in, which was suspicious.

The Cyber Emergency Response Team of India blocked the fake RBI website, while the RBI on its website alerted people not to fall prey to the phishing scam and alert the police and their bank if they have shared their bank details.


Simple steps to avoid falling prey to these scams: Most phishing emails come with a warning that if you don't give your personal information, your account will be deactivated. Always be suspicious of mails that ask for your personal information.

Do not click on the link provided in the email. If you closely observe, the link would be a fake URL with a fake email address for instance ICICI.bank@gmail.com, which is not the correct address of ICICI Bank, or sbicustomerservice @hotmail.com.

Do not give any confidential information such as password, customer identification number, credit/debit card number, personal identification number, date of birth to any email request, even if the request is from government authorities like the income tax department or any card association company such as Visa or MasterCard.

Do not open unexpected email attachments or instant message download links.

Always check the web address carefully before sharing any information.

For logging in, always type the website address of the bank on your web browser.

Ensure that you have installed the latest anti-virus or anti-spyware or personal firewall or security patches on your computer or high end mobile phones.

Do not access net banking or make payments using your credit/debit card from shared or unprotected computers in public places.

Do not call and leave any personal or account details on any telephone system, voice message, email or an SMS.

Do not transfer funds to or share your account details with unknown people.

If you smell something fishy, call the bank and the police.
 

Popular posts from this blog

All about "Derivatives"

What are derivatives? Derivatives are financial instruments, which as the name suggests, derive their value from another asset — called the underlying. What are the typical underlying assets? Any asset, whose price is dynamic, probably has a derivative contract today. The most popular ones being stocks, indices, precious metals, commodities, agro products, currencies, etc. Why were they invented? In an increasingly dynamic world, prices of virtually all assets keep changing, thereby exposing participants to price risks. Hence, derivatives were invented to negate these price fluctuations. For example, a wheat farmer expects to sell his crop at the current price of Rs 10/kg and make profits of Rs 2/kg. But, by the time his crop is ready, the price of wheat may have gone down to Rs 5/kg, making him sell his crop at a loss of Rs 3/kg. In order to avoid this, he may enter into a forward contract, agreeing to sell wheat at Rs 10/ kg, right at the outset. So, even if the price of wheat falls ...
Read more

Zero Coupon Bonds or discount bond or deep discount bond

A ZERO-COUPON bond (also called a discount bond or deep discount bond ) is a bond bought at a price lower than its face value with the face value repaid at the time of maturity.   There is no coupon or interim payments, hence the term zero-coupon bond. Investors earn return from the compounded interest all paid at maturity plus the difference between the discounted price of the bond and its par (or redemption) value. In contrast, an investor who has a regular bond receives income from coupon payments, which are usually made semi-annually. The investor also receives the principal or face value of the investment when the bond matures. Zero-coupon bonds may be long or short-term investments.   Long term zero coupon maturity dates typically start at 10 years. The bonds can be held until maturity or sold on secondary bond markets.
Read more

Mutual Fund Review: SBI Bluechip Fund

Given SBI Bluechip Fund's past performance and shrinking asset base, the fund has neither been able to hold back its investors nor enthuse new ones   LAUNCHED at the peak of the bull-run in January 2006, SBI Bluechip was able to attract many investors given the fact that it hails from the well-known fund house. However, the fund so far has not been able to live up to the expectation of investors. This was quite evident by its shrinking asset under management. The scheme is today left with only a third of its original asset size of Rs 3,000 crore. PERFORMANCE: The fund has plunged in ET Quarterly MF rating as well. From its earlier spot in the silver category in June 2009 quarter, the fund now stands in the last cadre, Lead.    Benchmarked to the BSE 100, the fund has outperformed neither the benchmark nor the major market indices including the Sensex and the Nifty. In its first year, the fund posted 17% return, which appears meager when compared with the 40% gain in the BSE 1...
Read more

Principal Emerging Bluechip

In its near ten year history, this fund has managed to consistently beat its benchmark by huge margins The primary aim of Principal Emerging Bluechip fund is to achieve long term capital appreciation by investing in equity and related instruments of mid and small-cap companies. In its near ten year history, this fund has managed to consistently beat its benchmark by huge margins. This fund defined the mid-cap universe as stocks with the market capitalisation that falls within the range of the Nifty Midcap Index. But, it can pick stocks from outside this index and also into IPOs where the market capitalisation falls into this range. Principal Emerging Bluechip fund's portfolio is well diversified in up to 70 stocks, which has aided in its performance over different market cycles. On analysing its portfolio, the investments are in quality companies that meet its investment criteria with a growth-style approach. Not a very big-sized fund, it has all the necessary traits to invest with...
Read more

Mutual Fund MIPs can give better returns than Post Office MIS

Post Office MIS vs  Mutual Fund MIPs   Post office Monthly Income Scheme has for long been a favourite with investors who want regular monthly income from their investments. They offer risk free 8.5% returns and are especially preferred by conservative investors, like retirees who need regular monthly income from their investments. However, top performing mutual fund monthly income plans (MIPs) have beaten Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (MIS), in terms of annualized returns over the last 5 years, by investing a small part of the corpus in equities which can give higher returns than fixed income investments. The value proposition of the mutual fund aggressive MIPs is that, the interest from debt investment is supplemented by an additional boost to equity returns. Please see the chart below for five year annualized returns from Post office MIS and top performing mutual fund MIPs, monthly d...
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now