Avoiding phishing frauds

April 17, 2023
DD Planet

Although the major e-commerce transactions like online banking are safe, we need to be alert against phishing frauds.

Here are quick tips to help you on it:

1. Keep your device (computer, laptop, mobile, tab) updated for browsers and other sensitive software. It will ensure that all security patches are in place till date.
2. Install a high-quality anti-virus and a security advisor for your browser.
3. Be sure that there is no keylogger installed in your device.
4. Be careful when accessing sensitive information from a public computer. In the first place, avoid it. If it is an emergency, ensure that the computer has no keylogger installed. Make it a habit to clear the browsing data of your browser in such a case after you have finished your work.
5. When you receive an e-mail from an unknown sender, do not open the attachment until you have verified the authenticity of the sender. Fake job offers, fake lottery-winning mails, fake rewards, fake accounts must be avoided at all cost.
6. It may seem that you have received the email from an authentic sender, such as the Income Tax department or RBI et cetera, since the sender’s email might look genuine, but the moment you click ‘Reply’, you may notice that the email id has changed in the ‘To’ field of the email send window. Stop there itself since the sender is a fake guy.
7. Similar to the above, phishing websites look like the original website, but if you scrutinize it, you may find a very small difference, for example rb-i.org.in instead of rbi.org.in. Instead of opening such a link, you can hover your mouse on the link and read the site address at the bottom to check authenticity before opening it.
8. Because of the reason cited above, it is better to make it a habit to access the sensitive websites’ links from their original websites that you know or may know from the internet or via a phone call. You can bookmark the original website links of all the service providers for an easy reference.
9. Make sure that the website on which you are submitting your sensitive information is secure (for example, starts with https instead of http), has passed your security advisor test and has no security certificate errors. Do not ignore any warnings.
10. Make it a habit to change passwords at sensitive websites, such as banks, shopping, other financial institutions and auction et cetera, from time to time.
11. Make it a habit to verify all your financial transactions by logging into the respective online platforms regularly.
12. In the case of mobile, be suspicious when someone calls you for a SIM blocking, fake upgrade offers and demands money or asks for your UPI Pin or OTP. The voice of such fraudsters may look like your friend or relative and may seem genuine but the fact is opposite. Better call the guy (whom the fraudster impersonated) yourself and check the authenticity.
13. Make it a habit to verify thrice when someone asks some sensitive personal information from you.
14. Block the suspicious senders in your phone and the platforms like whatsapp.
15. Keep reporting about the fake persons that you have verified to the cyber-crime and other such departments.