- The Indian establishment is at the forefront to push ahead with the digitalization efforts in the form of the Digital India campaign is well-known. This particular initiative has gained tremendous traction in the last three years or so is visible on the ground. The pandemic opened up the digital embracement in a big way allowing people of every walk of life to stay connected during those tough times. Huge number of transactions using the unified payments interface (UPI) platform amply demonstrate how the citizens of India have embraced the technology-driven initiative. As in any novel initiative, there are concerns about safeguards to protect the gullible and not so smart citizens by dubious elements to make quick buck out of people’s ignorance.
PC: ADITI CHATURVEDI
- Not a day passes without several instances getting reported about how people were tricked by the scamsters luring them online to siphon-off hard earned money. Even though cyber-police are making efforts to apprehend online criminals, it’s simply proving to be inadequate to book them for want of trail/evidence. As you are aware, phishing attacks are not a new phenomenon. However, the rapid penetration of smartphones and online banking and payment systems without a matching leap in awareness of their risks seem to have given the scamsters a worrying edge over consumers. Many of them feel compelled to respond to WhatsApp and SMS messages and phone calls when these threaten to disconnect a key service or promise attractive rewards.
- To make the matter worse, the voice on the other end is armed with a lot of personal information making it harder to doubt the caller. Needless to mention, digital awareness has to grow. Governments, cops, banks, telcos, payment, and messaging services should keep incessantly educating citizens about safe practices. Alarmingly, recent weeks have seen a flurry of scam messages threatening users that their electricity connection will be disconnected for failure to pay power bills. All it takes to lose your precious life savings is clicking on a dodgy link or being swayed by a persistent call centre executive/relationship manager to share a banking OTP or PIN – which should never be shared.
PC: Dharitri Ganguly
- Just imagine how devastating experience it would be for the elderly and other vulnerable citizens to watch their bank accounts wiped out in the blink of an eye. A 2021 Microsoft survey of audit internet users suggests that India has had the biggest percentage point increase in people who lost money through a scam since 2018. Many victims also complain of lacklustre bank assistance in helping recover the funds. Thankfully, RBI is reportedly planning a fraud registry to monitor dubious transactions using AI and big data to link various complaints. Telecom and messaging companies must also closely track those doing telecalling and sending bulk messages. Better coordination and intelligence-sharing between these entities are just as important. Of course, without violating the privacy of law-abiding citizens.
