‘Account will be suspended, update PAN’: HDFC Bank customers, stay alert for such messages
In recent days, many customers have received fake text messages claiming that their accounts will be blocked or suspended if they do not update their Permanent Account Number (PAN). Stay alert and this is nothing but a fake message.
One of the messages received by a customer yesterday read: “Dear customers, HDFC bank account is suspended today. Click here to link and update your pan no immediately.” The message also contains a link that you should never click.
If someone clicks on the link, their phone will be hacked and they will lose their money.
Several banks have warned customers not to believe such text messages.
How do you prevent phishing?.
To avoid such scams, people should be wary of links that don’t look real. One should always check the source and whether the link is framed correctly. The domain name should be checked and if at any point you believe the link is from an invalid source, you should not click on it. And even if you eventually click on the link, you should never reveal your personal information.
Best practices to prevent phishing attacks
1) Always sign in to a site by typing the correct URL in the address bar.
2) Provide your username and password only on the authenticated login page.
3) Before entering your username and password, make sure the URL of the login page starts with the text ‘https://’ and not ‘https://’. The ‘s’ stands for ‘secure’ and indicates that the web page uses encryption.
4) Also look for the padlock at the bottom right of the browser and for the Verisign certificate.
5) Only provide your personal information over the phone/internet once you have initiated a call or session and the counterparty has been duly authenticated by you.
6) Regularly update your computer security with antivirus software, spyware filters, email filters and firewall programs.
7) Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card statements to make sure all transactions are legitimate.
8) Please note that the bank will never ask you to verify your account details via email/text message.
9) As a general rule, be suspicious of receiving unsolicited inbound messages/calls asking for your personal or financial information or to update it on a site. Please contact your bank directly through the available official channels to verify the authenticity of those calls.