There has been an increase in the use of digital payment methods in recent years. This gained traction during the Covid-induced lockdowns. As the speed and ease of conducting financial transactions have enhanced, so has the number of frauds reported in retail financial transactions. Fraudsters have been using innovative methods to defraud common and gullible people of their hard-earned money, particularly newcomers to the use of digital platforms who are unfamiliar with the techno-financial eco-system.
To raise public awareness about the methods used by fraudsters while also providing some guidance on the precautions to take when conducting financial transactions, the RBI has released BE(A)WARE – a booklet on the modus operandi of financial fraudsters. This booklet was compiled from various incidents of fraud reported as well as complaints received at the offices of RBI Ombudsmen in order to provide the most practical information of value, particularly to those who are inexperienced, or not so experienced, in digital and electronic modes of financial transactions.
General precautions
- *Be wary of suspicious-looking pop-ups that appear during your browsing sessions on the internet.
- *Always check for a secure payment gateway (https:// – URL with a padlock symbol) before making online payments / transactions.
- *Avoid saving card details on websites / devices / public laptop / desktops.
- *Do not click on unknown / unverified links and immediately delete such SMS / email sent by unknown sender to avoid accessing them by mistake in future.
- *Verify if the NBFC-backed loan apps are genuine
