How can the Debit and Credit Card frauds be controlled in India?

Some anti-fraud laws are implemented by the Government of India to prevent credit and debit card frauds. However, prevention is always better than cure, so even cardholders must be careful.

Credit or Debit card and debit card fraud in India is not an unusual event, rather it has increased with the advancement of technology. The hackers target the aged persons, as they are easier to fool, as they already struggle to keep pace with the technology, but it is not limited to that.

What is debit and credit card fraud?

A debit card fraud occurs when an unauthorized person fraudulently gets access to your debit card or its sensitive details. Once the person has access to your card details, you may suddenly discover that your account gets empty and the transaction is done to an unknown account. In the era of technology, it is very difficult to trace the offender.

This situation gets worse with old aged people who are not habituated to check their accounts through mobile or website, and they discover the fraud much later when they go to update the passbook. However, every age group are targeted in different ways.

Credit card frauds are done in a similar way, where the account holder gets a bill that he has not spent, but he has to pay the bill, otherwise, his savings account shall be affected.

What are the types of credit and debit card frauds and what are their procedures?

There are several ways the fraudsters adopt to carry on their fraudulent activities, also discovering new ways every day, but the common ways are listed here:

• Phishing and Vishing: Never trust any phone call, text message or email from any organisation trying to assure you that they are from the bank. This will usually take you to websites that look authentic. Once you enter your card details on these fake links, fraudsters can access the details and use them for their benefit. Never give access to your bank account details to any third party, nor enter the details anywhere except the application or the official website of the bank, such as the NetBank used ID and password. Always verify the URL and never click suspicious links.

• PoS Fraud: Here, small skimming devices are attached to normal Point of Sale devices to hack the data. For example, you swiped your card at a shop, and the internal data stores in the card get copied, as well as the code you enter to give access to the payment. These kind of devices is attached to the ATMs as well.

You can try to shake or jiggle the slot to see if a cloning attachment comes loose, but that procedure may not be helpful always. Also, cover the keypad with your other hand while entering the PIN. Even the 'tap and pay' options are useful, as you are not sliding the card inside, moreover, if someone uses your card without authorisation, can not spend more than Rs. 2000 and if you get I'm an alert of a suspicious transaction can block the card immediately.

• Application Fraud: This is a kind of identity theft where fraudulent actors impersonate a genuine customer by using their stolen or counterfeited documents to obtain a credit card. This can be detected after thorough background checks, but if an employee person from the bank is involved, it will be difficult to detect.

To avoid this, one should not make sensitive information and documents easily available such as an Aadhaar card, Identity card, account number, secret identification questions, etc.

What are the legal provisions regulating the preventive measures of credit and debit card fraud?

The Information Technology Act provide some remedial measures in case of debit bad credit card frauds, those are as follows:

• Sec. 66C says if anyone tries to make use of any electronic password fraudulently or dishonestly shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years and a fine of up to one lakh rupees.

• Sec. 66D says that if the fraudster by any device tries to do cheating by personation shall be punished with imprisonment up to three years and a fine up to one lakh rupees.

• Sec. 468 says the offender who commits forgery for cheating shall be punished with imprisonment up to seven years and shall also be liable to a fine.

• Sec. 471 provides Whoever fraudulently or dishonestly uses a document which he knows to be false shall be punished with the same punishment as if he has forged such document.

If anyone discovers that there has been a credit or debit card fraud, they must lodge an FIR immediately, which will enable the police to start with the investigation as soon as possible. The later you lodge the FIR, the offender gets more scope to escape and tamper with evidence bridging the gap between the offender and the punishment.

It is not necessary to approach the cyber police directly, you can go to the local police station and lodge an FIR in written. The police shall coordinate with the cyber department to catch the offender.