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InvestmentBeware - OfBanking Fraud!Today, most of us do our banking online and itstherefore made the process of scrutinizing one’s bankaccount simpler. However, online banking exposes usto related risks. Some of the ways by which to protectourselves from such risks are given below.By: Debajyoti Ray ChaudhuriThere was a recent news itemof a banking fraud wherein theperpetrators, in connivance withan IT services company whichhad access to the bank records,managed to change the address of the accountholder. Subsequently ATM cards and PINs weredelivered at the fake address and the moneywas withdrawn from the accounts by thefraudsters over a period of time.In another similar case, a letter was receivedby a bank purportedly from one of its customersasking for a change in address and contacts.After the new contacts were made effective, afax was received requesting for a remittance bydebiting the customer’s account. Later on, itwas found that the original letter for change ofaddress/contacts, as also the subsequent one formaking the remittance, was forged and this wasan attempt to fraudulently debit the customer’saccount.In the days when manual ledgers weremaintained in banks, criminals used tofrequently target inoperative accounts,assuming that the account holders would notnotice the amounts being withdrawn fromsuch accounts. In-operative accounts now havemore stringent rules for withdrawal, includingin some cases, the presence in person of theaccount holder for reactivating the account.However, banks brand an account asinoperative only after a certain period of timeand during this time such accounts may beattract the attention of fraudsters, sometimeswith the connivance of bank employees ortheir associates.One important precaution is to operateone’s bank accounts at reasonable frequency,or go through one’s statements of accountsvery carefully, to ensure that there are nounusual debit or any other change like thatof authorized signatory or address. Most ATM68The International Indian