‘Account will be suspended…’: HDFC Bank customers beware of such SMS

One of the messages received by a customer yesterday read, “Dear customers HDFC bank Account will be suspended today Please click here to link and update your PAN number immediately.” The message also contains a link that you should never click.

If someone clicks on the link, his phone will be hacked and his money will be lost.

Many banks have issued warnings to customers not to trust such SMS.

How to avoid phishing?,

To avoid such scams, people need to be careful about links that do not appear to be genuine. One should always check their source and whether the link is properly generated. Domain names should be checked and if at any point of time you believe that the link is from an invalid source, you should refrain from clicking on it. And even if you do click on the link at the end, you should never reveal your personal data.

Best practices for preventing phishing attacks

1) Always log in to the site by typing the appropriate URL in the address bar.

2) Provide your User ID and Password only on the authenticated login page.

3) Before providing your User ID and Password please ensure that 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) Please also check Lock Sign and VeriSign Certificate at the bottom right of the browser.

5) Provide your personal details over phone/internet only when you have initiated the call or session and the counterparty has been duly authenticated by you.

6) Regularly update your computer security with anti-virus software, spyware filters, e-mail filters and firewall programs.

7) Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are valid.

8) Please remember that the Bank will never ask you to verify your account details through e-mail/SMS.

9) As a general rule, be suspicious of receiving any unsolicited incoming communication/phone calls asking for your personal or financial information or to update them on a site. Contact your bank directly through available official channels to verify the authenticity of those calls.