Cyber fraud with a 74-year-old man who ended up losing 1.22 lakh while attempting to renew his Netflix subscription. He was notified that his subscription had been suspended due to non-payment of Rs 499.
What is cyber fraud?
Cyber fraud refers to the use of internet-based technologies to commit fraudulent activities, such as identity theft, phishing scams, and credit card fraud. Cyber fraud can take many forms, but some common examples include:
- Phishing scams: These are attempts to trick people into providing sensitive information, such as login credentials or financial information, by disguising themselves as legitimate websites or organizations.
- Identity theft: This occurs when someone uses another person’s personal information, such as their name and date of birth, to steal money or commit other crimes.
- Credit card fraud: This is the unauthorized use of someone’s credit card to make purchases or withdraw funds from their account.
Fraud committed online may have devastating effects not just on businesses but also on private persons. It is possible for one to suffer financial losses, harm to their reputation, and the loss of sensitive personal information as a consequence of this. It is essential to exercise extreme caution in disclosing personal information online and to create strong, one-of-a-kind passwords for each of your accounts in order to protect yourself from the threat of cyber crime. In addition to this, it is a smart move to check your bank and credit card accounts on a regular basis for any signs of unusual behavior.
Incident in detail
The scammers pretended to be Netflix, and tricked the man into sharing his bank details through a carefully fabricated email.
So far, we’ve heard of scammers sending malware links in messages, but this time, the cyber crooks attempted to dupe an elderly guy by asking him to renew his Netflix subscription.
According to a police officer, “The fraudulent email also provided a link to make a payment of Rs 499. Without thinking twice, the person clicked on the link and filled in all his credit card details. A One Time Password (OTP) was generated on his mobile phone for payment of Rs 1.22 lakh.”
The individual shared the OTP on the email without checking the amount for which he was providing the OTP, according to the authorities.
Even though the email said that he was only expected to pay Rs 499, the OTP was sent for Rs 1 Lakh.
The man only discovered he had been deceived when he received a call from the bank.
Important takeaways from such incidents:
- Never disclose your bank OTP. No organization will contact you for this information, that too via email. Ignore these messages.)
- Verify the email address to ensure it’s corporate mail.)
- Pay attention to the transaction amount in the OTP SMS.
- Before entering your payment details, check the URL that the email is redirecting you to.
- Scammers target vulnerable people who aren’t tech-savvy, yet their communications are so convincing that even experts fall for them. So inform relatives and friends.
- Caveat: Many frauds and fake websites may lure consumers into supplying personal and financial information online.
- Verify a website or company’s credibility before entering personal or financial information. Use secure payment methods to prevent fraud.)
- If you suspect fraud, call your bank immediately to report the situation and safeguard your account.
Do you have any suggestions for effective ways to educate the masses about cyber fraud? Comment below!