Major banks have alerted customers to not engage with fake social media handles purporting to represent them. The official handles of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank warned customers to not share their personal details with the fake handles.
The development comes in the backdrop of rising online frauds involving bank customers.
HDFC Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, warned customers against sharing personal details such as phone numbers and bank account details.
“Certain unscrupulous individuals are posing as HDFC Bank officials and responding to customer queries in an attempt to gain access to personal or financial information,” the bank tweeted on March 14.
Other than this, the lender, in response to a customer tweet, pointed out that the handle he had been communicating with earlier was a fake handle.
ICICI Bank issued a warning to fake bank handles to desist from misusing its identity. The lender, in response to a customer complaint, directed a warning to a fake handle, stating: “Hi, we are here to assist customers through a verified profile for the safety of customers. We strongly advise you to not ask for any contact details from our customers or re-direct them on any customer care number and remove your posts. Please do not engage with our customers using our logo in an unauthorized manner.”
https://twitter.com/ICICIBank/status/1633739389338632192?t=vFbdZHKxebkT-xjS2od9Hw&s=19
In the case of a customer who shared his phone number with a fake handle, Kotak Mahindra Bank's official handle informed the customer to share details only with official handles. The bank cautioned Aman Dixit, the customer, against engaging with any handle other than its official handle.
"This profile and the number is fake. Do not interact with anyone posing as a bank employee and do not share any personal details like account with anyone. Please communicate with @KotakCares @Kotakbankltd handle only or call our customer care at 1860-266-2666," the lender tweeted.
Rise in online banking frauds
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its Trend and Progress of Banking in India report for fiscal year 2022, said that banking frauds have increased year-on-year (YoY). The report said that banks reported 9,102 frauds in FY22 against 7,358 frauds in FY21.
Often, customers looking for answers to their queries from banks on social media become vulnerable in interacting with fake handles. Some share personal details, including their contact number, bank account number, permanent account number (PAN) and aadhar card number.
Banks have time and again warned customers to refrain from sharing these details with fraudsters. From online campaigns against online frauds to emails and SMSes, lenders have created awareness around online frauds.
The regulator also has been alerting people about the rise in online frauds. “Multiple initiatives have been taken via the RBI to educate people regarding online frauds,” said RBI Executive Director Ajay Kumar Choudhary, speaking at Moneycontrol’s inaugural India Fintech Conclave on March 7. Choudhary added that the data privacy law would help tackle online frauds.
Also read: HDFC Bank cautions customers about fake customer care handles
How to identify a genuine Twitter handle
One of the reasons bank customers tend to share details with fake handles is because of how realistic these handles appear. They use the bank’s official logo, cover photo, keep a link to the bank’s website on their profile and often use the same profile descriptions as official bank handles.
Some users noted that the official, verified handles of banks have either a yellow or a blue identification mark on Twitter, which customers must look for before sharing their details.
Fake social media handles do not have any identification mark and banks have advised their customers against interacting with these handles.
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