10 Safe Online Behaviours to protect you from fraud

Fraud awareness is becoming more and more important because with increased digitalization and the growing ease of banking, fraudsters are coming up with more innovative fraudulent practices. Typically, they pose as authorised personnel to obtain sensitive personal information and result in financial loss.

Common types of fraud that you should be aware of:

• Phishing links – Links to third party websites that look like genuine website are shared via SMS, social media, email, or instant messages. Fraudsters use these to secure your financial information.
• Email/SMS/Call scams – Fake messages about loan availability or loan sanctions circulated via email, SMS, telephone calls.
• Fake advertisements for extending loans – They advertise about personal loans at attractive and low interest but demand advance charges such as processing fee, GST, advance EMI, un-hold charges etc.
• ATM card skimming – Fraudsters can place a dummy keypad or a small, well-hidden camera to capture your card PIN. They can also pretend to be other customers waiting or steal your card via skimming devices.
• OTP-based Fraud - Fraudsters impersonate authorised personnel and send messages about loan availability or credit limit enhancement as well as a number to call. On calling, they ask for shared documents and details including OTPs and PINs.

10 ways to secure your financial information and transactions

• 1. Monitor your accounts for unauthorised transactions. Notify corresponding authority in case of any unauthorised transaction.
• 2. Do not click on links received from unknown IDs.
• 3. Do not share your financial details with unauthorised personnel.
• 4. Avoid using public Wi-Fi or free VPNs.
• 5. Do not scan any QR Code or enter a PIN to receive money through UPI.
• 6. Do not ask for help at the ATM from a stranger.
• 7. Use passwords to protect your UPI apps and your smartphone.
• 8. Do not use commonly used passwords like 12345 or Birthdays.
• 9. Always look for spelling errors in messages that ask for sensitive details. If they have errors, they are fake.
• 10. Turn off web browser’s auto-complete to prevent storing of card details and other sensitive information.

What are the steps TVS Credit takes for fraud prevention?

• Provides official payment link on the website
• Payment gateway is routed through the official website
• The payment details are not of a personal account/UPI account

Beware of fraudulent calls/messages asking you to make payments to a personal bank/UPI account or via unknown web links. Before making a payment always ensure that the web link is an official TVS Credit payment link. Stay alert and stay safe.

For more information, watch our video by clicking here.