Some fresh figures from RBI show that there is a rising trend of financial fraud in India. While there are so many measures that have been put in place, fraudsters this time and again succeeding in swindling people out of their details, which leads to great losses.
These increased risks include One-Time Password (OTP) scammers among others.
In a bid to ensure that people do not fall prey to such tricks and to avoid losses there is a government cyber agency known as Cert-In that assists clients by providing measures that help counter such tricks and are listed as follows:- In a bid to ensure all mobile users be safe from such attacks Cert-In has provided a ‘safety tip’ that helps avoid such tricks.
OTP scam is a short form of ‘One Time Password scam,’ wherein an individual is scammed via a one-time password which is usually used as a security feature in an online account.
Cyber criminals employ new elaborated schemes to lure the innocent individuals into enshrinement of granting the hacker illegitimate access to the personal banking profiles, electronic wallets, and other personal information. These frauds usually come in the form of e-commerce sites, bank employees and even government impersonation to lure victims to part with their OTPs.
How do the scammers arrive at a point of influencing those they want to steal from?
Generally, it starts with forwarding of vishing messages through the recipient’s email or the Short Messaging Service. The OTPs involved are also entered by the victims and therefore make their accounts accessible.
Scammers can also employed strategies and tricks that would make the victims deposit their confidence in the scammer hence providing OTPs. They can pretend to be calling about some query, offer free services or products or try to keep people engaged so that they can get their OTPs.
Sometimes the scammers themselves get on the victims’ phone, through links in messages or downloaded apps, and place Trojan programs on their phone. This software can also help in intercepting OTPs by sharing the same through sms or any other communication platform.
That is what the government has to say
"Safety tip of the day: Be careful of OTP frauds,” Cert-In said in a post on X.
It also shared a list of 'Best Practices':It also shared a list of 'Best Practices':
Shun calls that appear too much like any bank’s or any kind of an authorised company’s toll free number.
Do not disclose your details to anyone via phone call or social media or emails such as credit/debit card details, CVV, OTPs, account details, address, dob or expiring date.
To be sure check the number which you received the call or SMS on bank or any other authorized company’s official website may be.
Never share your OTP over the phone, by email, or via SMS in exchange for rewards points, cashbacks, or any other incentives.