Even if you are an avid consumer of internet content, a tech geek or a tech nerd, don’t underestimate the ‘potential‘ of cyber criminals who have set their eyes on the recent directive of linking Adhaar with bank accounts. As you read this article to the end, you will realise that every technology has its flip side which no one but cyber criminals leverages the most.
Quite recently the government of India has issued a directive to the people that it’s now mandatory to link their Adhaar card with bank accounts. Failing to do so, bank account holders would not only lose control over their accounts but will also be barred from making any transaction. As the deadline to follow the directive is already passed, bank officials and account holders are rushing to satisfy the new guidelines – no one wants to lose their bank account. For many, this is a task while many have tagged it as an unnecessary initiative by the government of India. But, for few, this is an excellent opportunity to mint crores of Indian rupees without making much of efforts. This community is called Cyber Criminals.
A Noida (India) based engineer lost Rs 20,000 to cyber criminals after he received a call from an executive pretending to be a bank official, according to Mail Today. The caller informed that according to the recent guidelines by the government, it’s now mandatory to link your adhaar with his bank account.
The community of Cyber Criminals is hyperactive these days as most of the professionals are finding it tough to get some time out of their busy schedule to safeguard their interest. Police have issued a warning for people to stay aware about such fraudsters who call people, pretending to be an executive from their bank, to help to link adhaar card with a bank account.
Cyber Criminals, Adhaar and Tech: Modes Operandi
Before approaching to their targets, these cyber criminals, like any other technology company, set their infrastructure in right order. The most important role is played by the India’s most popular app – Truecaller.
These cyber criminals configure their phone number in TrueCaller app as “Bank“. After setting up all the required infra in order, these cyber criminals start calling people randomly. If you are wondering how these cybercriminals obtain a mobile number of people in India, you must be kidding. Probably, India is the among those very few developing countries where people give away their most valuable personal information at car parking, malls and many other public places for free. Later the collected information – especially name, mobile number and email ID – is consolidated in a database only to be sold on the internet.
Interestingly, collecting mobile numbers and name is just the beginning of the complete process. These cyber criminals also invest their time in making the list of card numbers. Every card has the 16-digit number; the first 12-digit is common for all the customer of a bank as it represents the bank ID. The rest four-digit is unique for every customer.
Once having all the information in place, these cyber criminals start making unsolicited calls to people on the pretext of linking their Adhaar pan card with their bank account as per the directive of the Indian government.
The unsuspecting people are conned by these cyber criminals who are fluent in English and already have most of the customers’ bank details. To win customer’s confidence, cyber criminals read the official directive issued by the government of India. Once convinced, customers are asked to verify themselves by telling the last four digits of the card number and the CVV number. As soon as the cyber criminal have this vital piece of information, they are informed customers that as the last step to of the process they will receive a unique one-time-password (OTP) which need to be disclosed. Once customers tell the OTP to cyber criminals transactions are processed immediately, and the amount is debited from customers’ account.
Self Help is the Best help
In the ear of technology, people are bound to expose themselves to various technology shifts. Cybercriminals keep looking for new policies, rules and regulation to misuse it.
Senior officials with Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) have issued warning against such unsolicited calls. They have urged people not to disclose any of their card details, OTP of any other personal data over the phone to anyone pretending to be bank executives. They have also said that no bank officials are allowed to collect people’s information over the phone as well. The authorised officials from banks are allowed only to request customers to link their adhaar with bank account either by visiting branch or through authorised websites.
