Since 2016, when India decided to go cashless the growth of online payments increased exponentially but not without risks. Online payments seem quick and easy but it's not hard for your financial data to be stolen. With every transaction and swipe you're putting your credit to risk.
In 2019, India faced a banking hazard as 32 lakh debit cards from 19 banks, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank, were compromised with a loss of 1.3 crores. The cyber-world is littered with examples like this, people often think it's inevitable that they will be duped at least once, that even if they are careful their credit cards will be compromised at some point. But it doesn't have to be so, with the following measures we can reduce the risk of debit and credit frauds to a great extent.
Register for alerts
The best way to prevent a bogus transaction is to set up email or SMS alerts, as they will at least give you a warning as to when a transaction is made or tried. And if the said transaction is not by you then you can take action immediately.
Don't save your card information on websites
It's not foolproof but it would certainly clog some loopholes. It's better to limit the sites where you save your card details and know all the sites you have them saved on. Best to save them on trustable sites.
Be careful
The Internet is full of baits so be prudent while clicking on any too-good-to-be-true deals. Especially the ones that ask for your card details. Be paranoid of fishy email links and consider them as red flags.
Log out
Its cautious to log out of sites and apps made for e-commerce and never save any passwords on your phone.
Check Statements Regularly
Check your bank statements for any suspicious activity, so you can catch one early on. Sometimes, the fraudsters might use the card multiple times so as soon as you find something suspicious report it and cancel the card via the bank.
Use Online Wallets and UPI
As online wallets and UPI doesn't disclose your account details or card details, it's better to use them instead of credit or debit cards for e-commerce.
It goes without saying that always air on the side of caution and never disclose your financial details to anyone. With a few careful steps you can reduce the risk of falling into a debit fraud and even if you do many banks offer insurance for such cases, so go through the bank's policies thoroughly; they may save you a dime a dozen.
