In a renewed effort to combat fraudulent activities, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a caution to the public regarding scams involving Know Your Customer (KYC) updation. This alert comes in the wake of numerous incidents where unsuspecting customers have fallen victim to scams perpetrated in the guise of KYC updation.
Typically, these fraudulent schemes begin with customers receiving unsolicited communications, such as phone calls, SMS messages, or emails. These messages aim to manipulate individuals into revealing sensitive personal information, account/login details, or installing unauthorized and unverified mobile applications through links provided in the messages. Fraudsters often resort to creating a false sense of urgency and may even threaten to freeze, block, or close the victim’s account if they fail to comply with their demands. Once customers unwittingly share their essential personal or login details, fraudsters gain unauthorized access to their accounts, leading to various fraudulent activities.
To combat these threats, the RBI advises the public to adopt the following measures:
Do’s
- In the event of receiving any request for KYC updation, directly contact their bank/ financial institution for confirmation/ assistance.
- Obtain contact number/ customer care phone number of the bank/ financial institution only through its official website/ sources.
- Inform their bank/ financial institution immediately in case of any cyber fraud incident.
- Enquire with their bank branch to ascertain available modes/ options for updating KYC details.
Don’ts
- Do not share account login credentials, card information, PINs, passwords, OTPs with anyone.
- Do not share KYC documents or copies of KYC documents with unknown or unidentified individuals or organizations.
- Do not share any sensitive data/ information through unverified/unauthorized websites or applications.
- Do not click on suspicious or unverified links received in mobile or email.
