New method of online fraud, emptying bank accounts without OTP and phone call, take these precautions
Cybercriminals are constantly looking for new ways to cheat people online. They cheat users by sending fake links through messages or calls or by any other means. Users are trapped by stealing their personal information and then their bank accounts are emptied. Recently, another new method of scam has come to light, in which hackers neither call anyone, nor ask for OTP nor send any fake link, but are emptying people’s bank accounts in a new way.
In the last few years, the way agencies have become alert to prevent cyber crimes, criminals have also started changing their way of committing fraud. Now hackers are neither calling people nor sending links, but are emptying their accounts by stealing their details. Cybercriminals are using AePS to do all this, which was launched by the government for the convenience of the people. You must have also withdrawn money from the bank using AePS.
What is AePS?
AePS i.e. Aadhaar Card Enabled Payment System is a service in which money is withdrawn from the bank account through Aadhaar card and biometrics. Users whose bank account is linked to Aadhaar card and AePS is enabled can withdraw money from their account even without any cheque book, ATM card etc. However, the Reserve Bank has set a limit for this.
How are they cheating?
Cyber criminals have found this new way to cheat people, in which they steal people’s information and use AePS and empty the bank account. For this, hackers have started stealing land allotment documents from government offices. People’s fingerprints are recorded on these documents. Criminals steal fingerprints from the document for biometric verification. After getting the Aadhaar card number and biometric details, it becomes easy for them to withdraw money from the bank.
Take these precautions?
To avoid this new type of scam, users will have to secure their Aadhaar card. For this, users should not share their Aadhaar card with anyone. If they want to share it, they can use Masked Aadhaar card, in which the Aadhaar card number does not fall into anyone’s hands. Apart from this, they can share Virtual ID (VID) instead of Aadhaar card number.
- For this, users will first have to go to the UIDAI website.
- Here they will get the option to generate Masked Aadhaar and VID.
- They can secure their Aadhaar by entering their Aadhaar card and mobile number.