If your debit card suddenly stops working or you
receive alerts for transactions you haven't done, chances are your card is
compromised
Your debit card is technically called a 'Deposit Access
Product.'
There is essentially a
deposit linked to the card, most commonly a savings or a current account. Thus,
for fraudsters, a debit card is the key to ready cash!
They can use it at ATMs
locally or internationally to actually bleed you of our hard-earned money, or
it can be used at a Point-of-Sale machine to make purchases of goods that can
usually be readily sold off at an attractive discount -- finally getting
the fraudster money.
Fraudsters needed two
elements before January 1 2019 : The data on the magnetic stripe of your debit
card, and your PIN.
These details were easy to
obtain.
Skimmers -- devices that
would read the magnetic stripe of your card -- were used to get details from
the magnetic strip on your card.
This is possible when you let
someone else handle/swipe the card for you -- for example at a petrol pump, or
a restaurant.
A criminal or an accomplice would use a skimmer just before or
after making a legitimate transaction at a POS machine, before returning the
card to you.
They would also 'shoulder
surf' the PIN as you entered it at the POS machine. Armed with both these, they
would produce cloned cards.
Another variant of the scheme
involved fixing skimmers at the ATM card acceptance slot to read the magnetic
stripe of the card, and a camera or a keypad overlay to capture the key-strokes
as you entered your PIN.
Fraudsters’ party at the ATM
will slowly come to an end after the Reserve Bank of India along with the Card
Schemes (MasterCard/ NPCI/Visa) mandated that the ATMs shift to reading
Chip-and-PIN (instead of the erstwhile situation when ATMs read the magstripe,
even of a Chip-and-PIN card ) on and after January 1, 2019.
As debit cards are mostly
used at ATMs, it has now become next to impossible for the fraudsters to
effectively clone a debit card for subsequent misuse.
Mind you, the chip is
impossible to break/ compromise in a commercially viable manner with today’s
technology.
However, it is envisaged that
your debit cards could still be used for frauds at ATMs that are not
Chip-and-PIN compliant yet, or for online transactions at internet / remote
payment merchants who do not support second factor authentication.
Fraudsters will still try to
steal your card data through innovative techniques.
Here are some tips for you to
stay alert:
1. Bonanza Schemes
At a mall, or crowded public
place you may find a kiosk with some bank officers running 'Debit Card Usage
Promotion' campaign.
Sometimes, they bring you an
exciting offer and may ask you to swipe your debit card at a POS machine and
make a one rupee transaction using your PIN.
You may be promised a coupon
on the spot for Rs 500 for an ice-cream parlor in the same mall!
The POS print may look like a
legitimate charge-slip. You may even receive the coupon to be redeemed at the
parlour.
A few days later you may find
cash withdrawal debits from ATMs abroad or from anywhere in India.
By luring you with a Rs 500
ice cream coupon, fraudsters stole your card credentials through a skimmer and
PIN logger bundled together to look like a POS machine.
2. Unexpected phone
calls/ E-mails/ SMSes
If someone pretending to be
your bank wants to solicit your card/ account/ personal and confidential
information, they will try to snare you by advising or threatening you that
unless you immediately confirmed some details, your account will be blocked or
debit card cancelled.
Do not fall for this trick.
You must immediately call the
phone banking number published by the bank (printed on the back of your card or
on your account statement) to verify such solicitations.
3. Small amount
debits/ credits from merchants
If you get a small amount
debits/ credits from merchants that you do not identify or were not expecting (
especially in fractions, not a rounded amount), be wary as this could be
a test transaction carried out by fraudsters to see if they get a success
message on a compromised card.
If you do not alert your bank
or block your card, sooner or later, they will try a high value transaction to
bleed you.
If you have still not figured
out why you got the message for a fractional amount, it’s because the
fraudsters transacted 1 unit of their home currency, which when converted into
Indian currency, got posted in your account as fractional or unusual amount.
So if you saw a transaction
from a Chinese Merchant for INR 10.237, it’s because the rogue merchant in
China tried your card for one Chinese Yuan, which is approximately the value
you saw charged to your card, in rupees !
4. Trash-hunting/
Dumpster diving
Be careful if you find your
postal mails/ bank and financial statements intercepted, pilfered or tampered
with or lying about your premises before you received those or after you
discarded them.
Fraudsters may have been
trying to glean your financial details to masquerade as if they were you.
This is their first step
toward identity/account take-over.
The potential victim could be
you or your family.
Always collect your mail
regularly; don’t let your postal mailbox overflow.
If you are away for long,
have a neighbour or someone trustworthy clear it for you. Remember to shred the
financial records and bank statements that you no longer need.
5. Your debit card
does not work suddenly
This may be because
fraudsters have managed to get a replacement card issued in your name, but
diverted it to their address.
Be wary if your existing card
gets blocked and won't work.
Be smart and safe.
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