I recently got a call from a person posing as a bank executive.
It all started when I was working at my desk in the post lunch hours of work time trying to get some work done and meet the work deadline.
My phone wrang and on the other side was a male voice that tried to sound concerned.
He tried to tell me in a hurried manner that I was trying to make a large financial transaction on my credit card and he was calling from the bank in order to validate the transaction.
I on my part had made no such transaction and this communication did make me quite tense and concerned.
He wanted me to verify my date of birth and my card number to start with.
I almost fell for this and as I was in the middle of sharing my date of birth it struck me that this could be a fraud.
I hung up and called up my bank immediately. I enquired if there was any transaction made on my card and if anyone had made a call to me in this regard.
The answer to the first query of mine was in the negative and so it became automatically obvious that since there was no transaction or any attempt of transaction being made so it was a scam call.
I would say I was lucky to have escaped a possible scam.
However this set me thinking as to how easy it is for the scammers to scam us and for us vulnerable folks to get looted and scammed by a faceless scammer sitting in a far off location.
The scammers have aced the skill of social engineering
The scammers are invariably smooth talkers. They know what to say and how to say it in order to gain our trust.
They know how to create a sense of panic and make us divulge our sensitive financial information in a state of panic and haste.
What are the red flags to check for?
Check your caller ID see if the call is from the bank.
What if the scammers spoof the caller id ?
Yes it is possible and a lot of scammers try to do this.
To avoid such a situation, hang up and call the bank.
For this always remember that banks offer an emergency number to report scams. Keep your bank's emergency number on the speed dial.
Asking for personal information
Bank executives do not reach out to you and ask for your personal information over the phone. If anyone is asking for your information over the phone chances are that the other person is trying to pull a scam.
Do not assume ask?
If a person calls up saying he is from the bank. Ask his name and designation. Ask his employee id as well. While you do this make sure you do not click on any link sent by this person via SMS or whats app or do not install any app pushed by this person onto your device via a link.
The best line of defence
The best way to act when you take up any call is to be in the moment. Stop multitasking and act with caution.
Do not take everything at face value.
Still if you fall for a scam then make sure you call your bank and get your card blocked and hotlisted to minimise the loss.
Remember that the first hour after you have divulged your information is crucial.
Make sure to inform both your bank as well as the cyber crime cell in your city or country.
This would be your best chance to protect yourself and minimise the loss.
Best of all, try to disable your plastic cards both debit and credit for online or tap payments.
Enable these features only when you use them. I know this seems inconvenient however it can save you from a scam.
Lower the usage limit of your card to a bare minimum. You can enhance and readjust it at the time of usage.
Final thoughts
Getting scammed is getting super easy. Stay safe and protected. Money is easy to lose and hard to earn.
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