Mumbai: Digital frauds have undergone a sea change since the beginning of the pandemic, and fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated to gain people's trust. As the country marks the beginning of the International Fraud Awareness Week 2021, HDFC Bank has launched a campaign urging its customers to take a pledge to not share confidential banking information with anyone.
The second edition of its‘Mooh Band Rakho’ campaign was launched virtually by NITI Aayog special secretary K. Rajeswara Raocreate, here on Monday. The light-hearted campaign creates awareness about all kinds of frauds. The campaign reminds customers that they need not disclose sensitive bank information, and is especially targeting Senior Secondary Schools & Colleges so that the awareness is ingrained.
Additionally, the Bank will also be conducting over 2,000 workshops in the next four months across the country to help customers understand how they can safeguard themselves against financial fraud.
“Digitalisation offers customers unparalleled convenience and access to banking services, but it comes with a lot of risks of cyber frauds as well. The fraudsters are constantly on the prowl looking out for gullible customers. It is critical to be always alert and mindful,” said HDFC Bank MD and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan. “We are delighted to launch the ‘Mooh Band Rakho’ campaign to educate people on how to keep their mouth shut about their personal and financial information and in doing so, keep their account safe.”
During the launch, the bank also elaborated on how many of these frauds are now being perpetrated during weekdays and working hours to trick customers into believing that the calls and offers are legitimate. A fraud dispute time analysis by HDFC Bank revealed that in the first three months of this financial year, 65-70 per cent of cyber frauds happened between 7 am and 7 pm. HDFC Bank’s analysis further revealed that 80-85 per cent of the affected customers were in the age group 22-50, and supposedly belonged to the more tech-savvy age bracket.
“With over 1.1 billion phones and more than 700 million internet users in India, cybersecurity is an essential service today. The cybersecurity landscape in the country is rapidly changing and there is a growing need for stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors to guard against constantly emerging threats,” said PMO national cyber security coordinator Lt Gen Rajesh Pant who was also present at the event.
