Multi-State Phishing Scam

• 27 Aug 2020

Why in News

Recently, Haryana Police has identified a phishing racket which accessed over 300 nationalized and private bank accounts across many states.

Key Points

• Frauds were done with Phishing and use of e-SIMs as the main conduit.
  
  • Phishing: It is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone, or text message.
    
    • This is done by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.
  • e-SIM: It is the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) embedded in the phone.
    
    • It can not be removed as opposed to physical SIM cards, which can be removed.
    • The e-SIMs enable users to change service providers through a simple process.
    • Multiple networks and numbers can be stored on a single e-SIM too, so one can have more than one number.
• Online Monetary Frauds in India:
  
  • According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in 2019-20, banks reported 2,678 card and internet-related fraud, totalling Rs. 195 crore in value, which was more than double the value of such frauds reported by banks in 2018-19.
  • In the current fiscal (2020-21), between April and June, banks reported 530 fraudulent transactions involving debit and credit cards, or techniques such as phishing done over the internet.
• Steps taken:
  
  • RBI is taking measures to improve awareness related to cybersafety among people through:
    
    • e-BAAT (Electronic Banking Awareness And Training) programmes.
    • Organising campaigns on safe use of digital payment modes, to avoid sharing critical personal information like PIN, OTP, passwords, etc.
  • RBI has also directed all banks and authorised payment system operators to undertake targeted multi-lingual campaigns by way of SMS, advertisements in print and visual media to educate their users on safe and secure use of digital payments.
  • The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in) functions as the nodal agency for coordination of all cyber security efforts, emergency responses, and crisis management.

Source IE