Online Fraud: Odisha Crime Branch To Ban Internet Banking In Cyber Cafes

Cuttack: Taking note of massive online fraud, the Odisha Crime Branch has decided to clamp a complete ban on internet banking in cyber cafes.

“Due to the pirated operating software (OS), unsafe browser and weak or no anti-virus software uploaded in the computers in the cyber cafe, the cyber criminals are able to hack the passwords and the one-time password (OTP) used by the people for the internet banking. Talking all these into consideration, the Crime Branch has decided to completely ban internet banking in the cyber cafe,” Additional Director General (ADG), Crime Branch, Santosh Upadhyay told the media here after presiding over a high-level meeting on cyber crime and the modus operandi of the criminals here on Sunday.

Talking about the preventive measures, he said people should use their personal mobile phone and computer for internet banking.

“To keep the cyber criminals from hacking their passwords and OTP, people must use original OS and strong anti-virus system in their own devices. Besides, they should also scan the files through anti-virus software before downloading them from their e-mail as some of the files contain viruses like the malware, spyware and Trojan. For additional security, people should use strong passwords with a combination of words and numerals,” the ADG said.

He further said that if a person has more than one internet banking account, he/she should use separate user name and password for each account. Besides, it is safe for the user to change his/her online banking password every month.

Upadhyay also said that the people using the social media platform should not provide their personal information as the hackers will be able to use this information for their personal gain and other criminal activities. Besides, people should verify the account details of the person before accepting his/her invitation as a friend on the social media.

He also advised the people not to save the password of their e-mail and social media account while logging into the web browser.