Do you make digital payments for making transaction? If yes, you need to be extra cautious now. Recently, there was a report of cybercriminals looting Rs 1 crore from 81 people in Mumbai in 16 days. Fraudsters are reportedly cheating people by pretending to send money. After transferring money, they ask recipients to repay the money on pretext that it was sent by mistake.

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Now, if users repay that amount to the caller's number, their accounts get hacked.

How this happens?

When users share screenshots of the repayment to the fraudsters, they establish personal communication with them. Scamsters somehow gather information of the users and misuse their sensitive personal data.

Experts call this a malware plus human engineering scam.

As of now, no details are available on how these scams are executed. Even if there is malware getting installed through social engineering, even then how the KYC information of the bank gets passed on is not clear.

Notably, hackers have developed ingenious methods lately using unique and complex arrays of cyberattacks to outwit security systems. They can be seen gaining sensitive financial information of individuals from banking servers or personal devices of an individual.

What is the way to avoid this?

Experts suggest that best way is to contact bank.

"If someone sends money to you and say that it was done by mistake, tell them that you will first reach out to your bank. After this, you can meet the caller at the nearest police station and propose to return the money," experts say.

In case of cyber fraud, what should customers do?

According to experts, users should first freeze their bank accounts and change all banking passwords.

They must inform the bank about the cyber fraud that has happened within 24 hours. Also, they should initiate a legal process to minimise the negative consequences of cybercrime. Customers can contact their local cybercrime investigation cell to file a written complaint against cybercriminals. The same can be done online too.

First Published:Mar 21, 2023 4:40 PM IST