India is embroiled in a financial fraud crisis that urgently requires intervention. Only in nine months, the figure of financial fraud cases has gone over 13,000 throughout the nation. People like us who have been victims of such scams, have together lost a sum of more than 100 crore rupees to fraudsters in just one year.
What is really scary about this is that the rate at which these frauds are occurring is not only remaining constant but also increasing. The tragic stories of people losing their entire savings to frauds become the talk of the town, and even the regulators have been slow in responding to the tactical changes of the perpetrators.
India's top financial and telecom regulators have, however, responded decisively to the crisis after a long time. Two changes of major importance are currently affecting the banking and financial sector. These changes are not simply the updates of bureaus but intervention tools meant to keep your money safe and your confidence in the financial system intact.
The Reserve Bank of India has set up a revolutionary regulation that makes the identification of real banks much easier. The norm requires that each registered bank be allowed to function only through a '.bank.in' domain for their websites and email interactions. Thus, any legitimate email from your bank will be the one that comes from an address ending with @bankname.bank.in.
Why is it such an important thing? Scammers have had an easy life for years because they could produce counterfeit bank sites almost identical to the actual ones.
They would trick people into going to "HDFCsecure.com" or "ICICIlogin.net", which are the lookalike bank sites that even very cautious users could be deceived by. Then these sites would collect login details, One Time Passwords, and private information of the users without raising suspicion.
The .bank.in rule substantially eliminates the danger of fraudulent websites. At present, you are equipped with a foolproof verification system. If you get an email or visit a bank site which is not associated with the .bank.in domain, then it is a warning. You can either ignore it firmly or inform the authorities.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has identified the 1600 number series as the new destination for calls from entities under the jurisdiction of RBI, SEBI, and other financial regulatory bodies. This is inclusive of banks, insurance companies, stock brokers, and other financial institutions. In the long run, all the genuine calls related to your finance matters will be done through numbers starting with 1600.
This change tackles a major weakness in India's financial security system that is at the root of the problem. To make their calls look like they are coming from the legitimate bank, scammers have gotten very good at caller ID spoofing; hence in the victim's mind, the call is from their bank, and they trust it.
By making the 1600 series the standard for all financial entities, the RBI and TRAI have devised a new way to confirm the identity of a caller. If you get a call regarding your bank account from a number, which is not starting with 1600, then you have good reasons to doubt it.
These two measures are a major leap forward in the battle against financial fraud in India. They are practical and executable, and they make use of the current regulatory framework. Still, they are not the end of the road. The scammers keep on coming up with new strategies, and new fraud schemes keep popping up.
The ultimate protection lies in the fact that these regulatory measures are complemented by the protective instinct and caution of each individual. Treat these changes as instruments, but do not let them lull you into a false sense of security. Be sure before you trust. If you are unsure about a communication, ask. Guard your personal information with your life.
