Bank scams are a common way for criminals to gain access to user's personal and financial information. Unfortunately, a large number of people have fallen victim to these and the number has continued to rise in the past few years. Recently, a user took to Twitter to share how she was almost scammed as the text message took her to a "very convincing landing page" on a website that looked like the official page of the bank.
Lavanya Mohan took to Twitter and wrote, "It's legitimately scary how good phishing and banking scams have become. Just 15 minutes ago I got this text and the link led to this VERY CONVINCING landing page." She also shared a screenshot of the message received from the scammer along with an image of a website that looks almost similar to web page of a leading private bank.
She also listed ways to spot such a scam. Enlisting the tips, Ms Mohan wrote, "First of all, no bank will send you links. Everything they want you to do will either be app-led or bank relationship manager led. Even if you get a LEGIT text with a link, speak to your RM (Relationship Manager) before you even click." She further added that no bank will "ever ask you to do anything over the phone".
Ms Mohan said that she spotted that the message was a scam since there was "a threat of immediate suspension", which according to her is "the biggest tell".
"Once again - no bank can suspend ANYTHING of yours unless some govt authorities demand it & even that involves a due process. The landing page was excellent, which is even more terrifying. The scam is to capture your credentials + PAN Card. Can you imagine what they can get away with if they have both?! Tells here are: What is the URL? It should be that of HDFC's. It says HDFC KYC (not HDFC Bank)," she stated.
Concluding the post, Ms Mohan added that a user should not "click on any links from texts that claim to be from your bank."
Since being shared, the post has amassed over 1.9 lakh views and a thousand likes.
"If there is one thread that you should read now then it is this. I have old parents and they regularly get messages like this. I am V.V. financially literate and hence have prevented them from getting scammed. But most of us are not so aware," said a user.
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"Incidence of phishing scams seems to be going up. In past 4 days received 5 similar sms. 3 of them have first 7 digits in common, probably the same call centre," said a second user.
"Look at that URL. This is seriously scary," commented another person.
