Saturday, January 31, 2009

ATM – Any Time Mishap

How often do you check your bank balances? Do you monitor your accounts online or wait for the statement to arrive in the mail?


Internet banking and credit card are growing in India. People have become more technically sound. At the same pace the frauds in this area are also have increased. Preventing such frauds requires a coordinated and cooperative action from the bank, customers and the law. The Cyber Law of India, the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000), is also not active on this aspect. Thus, Internet banking frauds and credit card frauds are growing in India. The ATM frauds not only cause financial loss to banks but they also weaken customer’s confidence in the use of ATMs.

Do you have the habit of throwing the receipt in the bin in the ATM?
If so I’m sorry to say, you are in danger.

In Singapore it is recently found that a person was busy picking up the receipts from the bin. No, he was not the sweeper. He was an IT expert who could crack the account of any person with the account number written on the receipt. You will be unaware of the fact that your money is flowing out until you are in touch with your account and transactions. The bank will not be able to trace where these people had drawn the money & how they do it, don't ask me, even the bank can't answer it. They can only advise you to report the case to the police for investigation. So DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR RECEIPTS.

It’s important to follow a few simple steps to protect yourself. What’s more important is that you could be at risk even if your ATM card is never actually physically stolen, as technical nerds can use skimming devices and keyboard to steal your card information digitally when you are busy withdrawing cash. There are some easy steps to be kept in mind:


–If the ATM is acting strange, don’t use it. A slow-moving ATM is the one which has been tampered with, experts say. Hedge your bets and use another machine.
–Beware of ATMs with stickers saying that you can now swipe your card into the machine, for instance, when you know that the machine was an insert model in the past. ATM vendors will mostly replace ATMs and instructions would probably not be changed with a just a label-quality sticker.
–Do shield your hand when you enter in your PIN. Sometimes tiny clandestine cameras (some as small as a pinhead) are installed near machines. Don’t give them any chance to pick up your digits.
–Check your bank balance regularly. It’s the quickest and easiest way to catch ATM fraud. The sooner you suspect the sooner you should report to the bank.
–The rules governing ATM fraud don’t protect consumers as much as those covering credit-card fraud do.
–Avoid ATMs in isolated locations. You might want to think twice before using a stand-alone ATM in a mall or convenience store. The machine may not be as secure as one within a bank branch.

The mechanisms like Designated time, Microchip technology, Biometric tokens, Enhanced security, ATM Monitoring, Customised softwares, Customer motivation, Alerts, etc can be used to minimise and prevent ATM frauds in India. The banks must spread public awareness in this regard among the public so that these frauds can be prevented says Mr. Praveen Dalal, the Leading Techno-Legal ICT, Cyber Law, Cyber Security and Cyber Forensics Specialist of India.

The hackers tend to improve on their methods and strategies day by day. ATM hackers are very smart and intelligent and you may not even see them coming except you have some tips to how they operate. Rouges have tips on how to install fraudulent card-reading devices, with which they can read any card inset in a 'tampered-with' ATM.

“Prevention is better than cure” – It is better to take preventive measure and stop the mishap than to wake up at the final stage.

8 comments:

Mahs said...

a very useful 1 as usual... i think more info abt securely using an ATM can b included... n how 2 avoid fraud...

very informative blogg...:)

Maverick at work said...

v eye-opening kind. The receipt is so unbelievable... how cud he possibly do it from the coded numbers.. why cant they put all these brains in framing security codes.

Priya said...

Title is captivatin again!!!
And one more blog giving the thought a dash to avoid cash clash..... very informative!!!

Raaj said...

a very useful blog..thanx for thz information tht not to throw de slip in atm bin's coz usually i use to throw it nxt tym i wouldn't do thz mistakes..man u doin a gr8 job keep doin it..

Priya said...

Very true blog indeed... Few months back a friend of mine had undergone this fraudulent situation… his pin number was skimmed by the watchman of tat atm and the bank nonchalantly said they’ve nothing to do wit it… As indicated in the blog, prevention is better than cure…
All ur blogs r exploring the day-to-day practical evils tat r generally concealed……… In this world of rapid technological developments, human brain need to be updated now n then, not only to learn their usages but also to keep ourselves prevented 4m up-to-the-minute hazards……. kudos to YBS blogs for feeding such precautionary measures to our mind…. Keep it going….!!

Unknown said...

this shoud also be aware for many business mens
atleast students would nt loose much of money
it mite be a very good informative business tip for people working with cash transactions through machines instead of direct cash

and more over as u've told they use some wierd tricks to crack the account code,people should remember to either tear off the recipt or take it with them

good one dude!!

Sachin's School of Thoughts said...

every medicine comes with its own set of side effects........... no tech in the world is fool proof.... we live in an era wherin even the defence systems of a nation get hacked........ ATMS are no big deal

Yes, we can hope for better fool proof tech.but till that we cant sit idel and see money vanishing from our acounts........ therefore
we should do all that's possible in our hands to save ourself

K.Mangalagowri said...

Where ever v go v see such activities not just in ATM's but in all the ways people try to cheat others for money...its v people who shuld take care or prevent such things from happening..v shld be cautious...

Well said yatin...prevention is better than cure...this blog shows ur perspective but ur ability to think how 2 prevent it...while v keep crying over spilt milk...u ve come out with the preventive measure..good on u yatin...keep it going...
Even i ve come across one such experiance..!! A strange on :(
Blaming them is useless..getting fooled by them matters..lets be faster than these technologies to face these strangers..n break their activities by our intellectual capability..Lets be cautious...:)
An informative one!!! Good one....