Growing up we all came across fake products, fake companies and fake currency but we are in the age where we are getting fake emails, fake websites, and fake calls.
As the usage of smartphones has increased drastically over the past few years so has the misuse of it. We have been very careless with our devices, smartphones, even on dating apps which has resulted in us becoming victims of phishing, romance scams, bullying, KYC fraud, debit card fraud, social engineering and a lot more.
The most common Cyber Frauds that happen in India are:
KYC Fraud
This is the most common attempt of KYC fraud in India where the fraudster places a forged phone call pretending to be a bank/company representative. He/she asks you to provide your KYC information on an emergency basis otherwise the account will be “blocked”.
They will collect your information from social networking sites like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and so on. Once they have enough information, they will call you to talk to you about an ‘emergency’. Once they are confident that you are sold on the idea, they will ask you about your personal account details citing those ‘emergency’ reasons. Once you provide the details, he/she will further transfer the money from your account to some other account.
Debit Card Fraud
A debit card fraud occurs when an unauthorized person gains access to your card or its details. Fraudulent means are utilized to gain such access. Once the person has access to your card details, a number of fraudulent transactions can be carried out. Simply put, you are at a risk of losing your hard earned money.
It is important to understand the Jamtara Case while talking about Debit Card Scam.
Jamtara Debit Card Scam – A tiny village named Jamtara in Jharkand, has emerged as the centre, in a series of banking frauds. By posing as bank representatives, a gang of seven members ask people for their account details and in turn siphon off large sums of money.
Social Engineering
Social engineering is the act of tricking someone into divulging information or taking action, usually through technology. The idea behind social engineering is to take advantage of a potential victim’s natural tendencies and emotional reactions.
To access a computer network, the typical hacker might look for a software vulnerability. A social engineer, though, could pose as a technical support person to trick an employee into divulging their login credentials. The fraudster is hoping to appeal to the employee’s desire to help a colleague and, perhaps, act first and think later.
Phishing Attack
Phishing is a type of social engineering attack often used to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. It occurs when an attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening an email, instant message, or text message. The recipient is then tricked into clicking a malicious link, which can lead to the installation of malware, the freezing of the system as part of a ransomware attack or the revealing of sensitive information.
Here when we are talking about the unseen it is also really important to know about the technologies in the cyber spaces which has led to Unheard, Unknown & Unseen Cyber-crimes.
Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning
The field of artificial intelligence is essentially when machines can do tasks that typically require human intelligence. It encompasses machine learning, where machines can learn by experience and acquire skills without human involvement. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning where artificial neural networks, algorithms inspired by the human brain, learn from large amounts of data.
But even this is being misused. Deepfakes are one such example.
Deepfakes are fake videos or audio recordings that look and sound just like the real thing.
Cybercriminals love deepfake because they don’t have to go through the grind of targeting your systems. Everything is happening on regular information channels like social media and emails. In short, one doesn’t need to have ‘special’ hacking skills to deploy cybersecurity attacks. And, therein lies the danger.
Omnifin has come up with E-Learning Module on cyber security. It is time you sensitize your employees and organization as a whole to protect the confidential data so that your employees feel secure working from home.
To know more, mail us at learning@omnifinsolutions.com or call us at +91 8820001234
Contributed by Priya Agarwal