Digital payments or online payments are now the norm. With things like net banking and UPI, sending money has become the easiest and fastest ever. Now, as things become more and more easy for us, it has also opened up a lot of new tricks for scammers who now have new and easy ways to cheat people online. While the fear of being duped while making online payments is always there, there are a few things that users can keep in mind to ensure that they are safe and an easy target for scammers. Here are some things to keep in mind to keep yourself safe while using UPI or net banking.
1. Never share your UPI PIN / Net Banking password with anyone
One of the most important things to remember is that you shouldn’t share your four or six points. is i With any PIN or your Net Banking Password. With UPI-enabled apps, the last and final step to proceed with payment is the PIN, so one should keep their UPI PIN as secret as their ATM PIN. Same goes with net banking. Along with net banking, your password and net banking ID are two personal credentials. However, since your registered mobile number on the net banking portal of many banks can bypass the Net Banking ID, your password is the most integral and you should keep it as private as possible. Often, people often get calls from fraudsters posing as bank representatives and asking you for your card/bank account details including PIN, OTP, Password etc. So make sure you never share this sensitive information with anyone.
2. Always verify UPI ID before sending money
It works for both sending and receiving money. While sending, it is advised to double check the UPI ID and phone number of the receiver. If you send money through UPI to the wrong person, there is no way to get it back, unless the receiver agrees to give it back. While receiving money, ensure that you have shared the correct UPI ID. This will help you avoid wrong transactions and send your money to someone who does not intend to receive it.
3. Do not click on unverified links
It is a common occurrence where people are duped just because they clicked on the link received through their email or SMS. Users are strongly advised against clicking on any unverified or garbled links that they receive. These links are commonly used by attackers to hack your phone and steal your data which may include banking passwords and PINs. As mentioned above, people often get calls from scammers posing as bank representatives and asking for your card/bank account details including PIN, OTP etc. Sometimes, they even ask you to download an app or register through a fishy link sent by them.
4. Always have proper protection on your equipment
Always keep your device locked, especially if you are in a new place where you don’t know a lot of people. There are several important apps (besides banking and payment apps) on our devices that can give scammers all the necessary data without having to get into the banking or payment apps on your phone. For example, apps like Email or Digilocker that contain all your important information, you don’t want the wrong people to fall into their hands. That is why, it is also very important to keep your phone securely locked at all times.
If you want to go an extra mile, many Android phones give users the option to lock apps separately, so you can put an extra lock on your banking, payments, email, and other important apps to have an extra layer of security.
5. Website Security
Sometimes buying from a new or unknown website can lead to fraud. For example, you’re buying a rare collectible that you found after some time searching, but it’s a website you haven’t heard of. Now, if it is a fraudulent website, there are chances that the “Net Banking” option will take you to a fake website that mimics your bank’s website and will take all your passwords and banking IDs that you add to make the payment. Huh. This is why, it is important to make sure that any website of the bank you visit is encrypted with “https” and has a lock icon at the start of the URL. If the URL starts only with “http” and not with “https”, it means that the page is not secure.
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