Recent reports highlight increasing financial fraud involving UPI, credit cards, and debit cards. Many users have reported significant losses (₹35,000 to ₹1.5 lakhs) from unauthorized international transactions on cards with disabled international features (e.g., ICICI RuPay CC) and POS fraud on debit cards (e.g., HDFC Visa Platinum DC, SBI Virtual DC).
To safeguard your finances, consider these proactive measures:
- Secure Debit Cards: Permanently block debit cards linked to your primary salary or savings accounts. This prevents POS swipe transaction fraud and unauthorized international transactions, even if disabled.
- Manage Credit Card Limits: Keep your credit card temporarily blocked when not in use and consider reducing the total credit limit, possibly to ₹10,000. Exercise caution with RuPay credit cards, as some have shown vulnerabilities to international transaction fraud even when disabled.
- Isolate UPI Payments: Designate a secondary account like Jio Payment Bank or Airtel Payment Bank as the receiving account for your UPI number. This helps protect your main bank account from potential freezes due to fraudulent credits.
- Daily UPI Transactions: Use digital wallets such as Amazon Pay, Airtel Payment Bank, or Jio Payment Bank for your routine UPI transactions to add an extra layer of security.
Given the rising instances of fraud, it is crucial to prioritize security over potential rewards. Our banking systems, while evolving, require active user vigilance to protect personal finances.