Verify bank transaction messages before responding, Chittoor SP tells public

Chittoor: Chittoor district Superintendent of Police Tushar Dudi has urged the public to remain alert against cyber frauds carried out through WhatsApp messages.

The district police are conducting awareness programmes across the district to educate people about cybercrime and precautionary measures to protect themselves from online fraud.

The SP said cybercriminals were adopting new methods to cheat people in the digital age. One such method involves sending messages claiming that money has been debited from a bank account and asking recipients to reply immediately if they did not make the transaction.

Such messages are intended to create panic and prompt people to respond without verifying their authenticity.

The SP advised people not to respond hastily to suspicious messages from unknown numbers, particularly those asking them to reply ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ regarding bank transactions. Instead, they should verify the transaction through the bank’s official mobile application, website or authorised customer care service.

He cautioned that cybercriminals might use suspicious links, files and applications to install malware on mobile phones. Once installed, such malicious software could expose personal information and banking details to hackers, potentially leading to financial losses.

Fake applications, phishing links and screen-sharing apps could also be misused to access sensitive information and facilitate online fraud.

The SP clarified that there was no established technical evidence to conclude that simply replying ‘NO’ to a message would automatically result in a phone being hacked or a bank account being emptied. However, he advised the public to exercise caution and avoid interacting with suspicious messages, links, files or requests.

He asked people not to click on unknown links or download and install unfamiliar files and APK applications and warned them never to share confidential banking information, including one-time passwords (OTPs), personal identification numbers (PINs), passwords and card verification values (CVVs), with anyone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pradeep Vennelakanti

[email protected]