What Can We Do If We Fall Prey To An Unauthorized Transaction?

With the ease of access to technology, digital banking frauds are becoming rampant and are becoming a grave issue across the globe.

Imagine a scenario, when in the middle of the night you receive a text that says “XXXX” $ or Rs or a particular currency has been deducted from your account. You instantly realize that it is an unauthorized transaction.

What Would You Do?

Before delving into the steps you can undertake to safeguard yourself amidst such a situation, let’s first understand what a digital banking fraud is.

What Is A Digital Banking Fraud?

A digital banking fraud appears when one of the many banking activities such as withdrawals, deposits or transfers occur online without your prior consent.

In the event of falling prey to an unauthorized digital transaction, you might panic. But, the first and the foremost thing you should do is to maintain your calm and follow the steps like the ones mentioned below. The steps like the ones mentioned below would ensure that at least the fraud transaction comes in the notice of the concerned authorities and action can be taken timely.

1. Contact Your Bank

As soon as you find that there has been an unauthorized digital transaction in your bank account, it is advisable that you immediately get in touch with your bank as soon as possible.

You could either get in touch through your bank’s customer service helpline or visit the bank branch physically. But, make sure that you do that without any delay because the later you report the fraud the more liable you will become for the unauthorized transaction and higher the price you will have to pay. The extent of your liability may differ from bank to bank and region to region.

With regard to the unauthorized transaction, it is also advisable that you take out as much detail about your banking transactions as much as possible. For instance –

• Keep a copy of all the SMSs regarding the alleged unauthorized transaction
• Keep a copy of your bank statement for the past few months (preferably 6 months) handy
• Take a copy of all your ID proofs and other documents as authorized by the bank and other documents which you might be required to furnish in your bank

2.   Block Your Debit/ Credit Card As Soon As Possible

It could be that there is an unauthorized transaction on your debit card or your credit card. Since ATM frauds are quite common these days, criminals take the aid of card skimming techniques and capture all the details of your ATM card including the CVV number and PIN using a card skimmer.

In that case, you should promptly block your debit or credit card by calling your bank’s customer service. This would ensure that no more transactions would take place through your debit or credit card.

3.  In Case You Observe An Unauthorized Transaction Through Internet Banking

One of the most prominently used forms of digital banking is online banking or internet banking. This is also a form of digital banking which is proliferated by hackers, scammers, and other criminals. In case you observe an online transaction that you did not conduct, you might first consider verifying your online activity. There are times when there are legitimate transactions such as auto-debit transactions that go unnoticed and they then appear as suspicious.

If even after checking your transaction history thoroughly, you find that the transaction is not legitimate, consider changing your password first. If the unauthorized transactions keep on occurring one after another, consider freezing your bank account. You could either do it online or use your bank’s app or personally call the customer service.

4. Contact The Police Department

Apart from informing your bank about the unauthorized transaction, you should also inform the nearby police department of the same. It is advisable that you get in touch with the cyber cells directly. You can find the details of the cyber cell of your district on the internet. The officials would swiftly find out if there have been activities like identity theft.    

In The End

It is very important that in the event of an unauthorized transaction in your bank account, you should always maintain calm. This will help figure out ways through which you can cease any further leakage of funds. Most importantly you can nab the criminals before they can cause any further harm to your bank account.

If you have ever been in a similar situation and were able to fight it out, do share your story with us in the comments section below. Your story might help someone urgently in need. For more such content keep reading Tweak library Blog.