Launched in the year 2018, “BE AWARE, STAY SAFE” is a public service initiative of MCB Bank, intended to educate Banking Consumers and Pakistanis in general about new age fraud tactics, promote safe electronic banking and prevent possible lapses. The initiative is aimed to raise awareness about how to keep oneself safe from falling prey to a range of fraud types asking for your personal and financial information such as pin code, CVV, OTP etc.

#BEAWARESTAYSAFE is the mantra that needs to be followed to prevent such crimes.

MCB Bank through this initiative is empowering the general public to fight new age fraud types. As a leading national entity, we operate in every corner of Pakistan and are deeply concerned with the changing landscape of new age fraud types and are constantly working towards enabling our customers to be more aware about their environment and associated fraud risks.

Following are six of the most common digital frauds types:

Vishing/ Fraud through fake phone calls

The fraudsters set up a fake call center using Voice over IP (VOIP). They use fake story lines which revolve around phony monetary prizes, fake representatives of the Government and the Bank asking customers to confirm banking details as a security check. In special cases, hackers can even use official Bank UAN numbers to call customers and force them to share sensitive information. This is also known in the world as call spoofing.

POS Skimming/ Fraud through points of sale

Point-of-sale (POS) skimmers are electronic fraud devices made to siphon sensitive card and PIN data at the billing counter or cash register. Credit cards or ATM/ Debit cards must always be kept in sight, whether one is paying at a restaurant, petrol pump or elsewhere. Criminals are quick to use the skimming devices and capture sensitive card information from the magnetic strip.

ATM Skimming/ Fraud through ATMs

An illegal activity in which account details are stolen from the magnetic strip contained on the back of the debit/credit/prepaid card using a combination of electronic devices placed systematically over the ATM. There are three main items involved in this type of skimming fraud which includes a hidden camera to steal PIN, keypad overlay to record PIN and card insert overlay to record card details.

Smishing/ Fraud through fake SMSs

SMS phishing or smishing is a form of criminal activity using the mode of SMS. It is the act of attempting to acquire personal information such as passwords and details by posing as a trustworthy entity. An SMS is used to attract people to give out their personal information by using a fake storyline. To make sure that you have received a legitimate SMS, customers should ensure that it is from a known and trusted source.

Social Engineering

Social engineering is the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information, rather than by breaking in or using technical cracking or hacking techniques. The term social engineering typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face to face with the victim.