Despite the ease and comfort automated banking has brought to bank customers all over the world, it has also given birth to a plethora of electronic fraud. Lately, a growing number of fraudsters are committing debit card fraud.

According to a 2020 report published by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBBS), 58 percent of the electronic fraud recorded, either through web or ATM transactions, were debit card related.

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FIJ has reported several cases of unsolicited transfers of huge amounts from bank accounts, and in most cases, bank officials fingered compromise of debit card details.

Following research and conversations with experienced banking professionals, FIJ came up with these seven ways you can protect yourself from debit card fraud:

USE ATMS STATIONED AT BANK PREMISES

Many ATMs and POS terminals are vulnerable to hacking by fraudsters through skimming, which lets criminals steal information from unsuspecting card holders by putting a card scanner on top of the card slot of targeted ATMs and POS machines. What the scanner does is to steal sensitive information of the cardholder.

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In some instances, fake PIN pads are installed on ATM keyboards such that user keystrokes are recorded at the point of entering card PINs. Sometimes, the criminals also install pin hole cameras at ATM sites that are in remote locations to record how users are entering their PINs.

Once the information on a card is exposed through these various means, the holder is bound to receive debit alerts without carrying out a transaction, giving out their card or losing possession of it.

To avoid falling victim to this, it is advisable that bank customers carry out their transactions on ATMs that are stationed at bank premises.

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Investigations have shown that ATMs that are are most susceptible to card fraud are the ones located far from the bank branches supervising them.

If you feel any of the keypads on either an ATM or a POS terminal have been tampered with, do not use them. If an ATM or POS terminal is shaking or looks bigger than the normal size, do not insert your card in it.

Do not allow anyone help you insert your card into an ATM or POS device.

Ensure no one is watching you from a vantage position when entering your PIN. Finally, do not make use of ATMs or POS terminals in a dark environment.

MINIMISE USE OF DEBIT CARDS FOR ONLINE TRANSACTIONS

Cardholders are advised to minimise the use of their cards for web payments and other online transactions. The more such cards are used for such payments, the more exposed the details they carry become.

Do not allow websites or online payment platforms to ‘remember’ your card number. Clicking on the ‘allow’ or ‘remember’ button could result in the exposure of your card details to online hackers.

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On some sites, bettors are encouraged to leave their 16 digit Primary Account Number (PAN) and three digit Card Verification Value (CVV) permanently to make regular staking easy. However, leaving sensitive information on such sites could lead to huge losses.

Fraudsters can easily hack into the systems of some betting sites and move huge amounts from as many customers’ accounts as possible through the many sensitive details previously deposited.

On no occasion should card details be left permanently on any website.

DON’T GIVE YOUR DETAILS TO ‘BANK OFFICIALS’

Fraudsters often place phone calls to unsuspecting bank customers. In such instances, they introduce themselves as bank officials and state some true information, including customer’s name, address and the last four digits on the customer’s card. The details are stated to win the customer’s trust. When trust is won, customers are asked to give their full card details.

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The moment the fraudster gets custody of all the information they require, the unsuspecting customer starts receiving debit notifications for transactions they never authorised.

No bank would call any customer to request for his or her card details. ATM cards are issued by banks, and as such, they have the information on them. Customers are to disregard such calls and report the incident immediately to relevant authorities.

REPORT LOSS OF DEBIT CARDS IMMEDIATELY

In the event that cards are no longer in the custody of their rightful holders, either through misplacement, theft or robbery, such are to be immediately reported at the nearest branch of the customer’s bank.

Such lost cards are to be ‘hotlisted’ or blocked immediately to avoid being used by fraudsters when found. Before leaving the bank premises, affected customers are to ensure that their requests are duly treated.

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For customers who have access to mobile applications on their phones, such cards are to be deactivated as soon as they cannot be found.

Lost cards can also be ‘hotlisted’ by customers through the use of their respective banks’ Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes.

REQUEST YOUR BANK STATEMENT REGULARLY

Some bank customers do not always get commensurate debit alerts, either via email or SMS, for their transactions. Customers in this category are expected to regularly request for their bank statements (hardcopy or softcopy) in order to monitor account activities.

This would go a long way in detecting whether unathorised transactions have been impacting their accounts or not.

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In some cases, the non-receipt of transaction alerts could also be SIM card or network related. If that is found to be the case, customers are expected to link their accounts to phone numbers that are capable of receiving alerts on a regular basis.

REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES IMMEDIATELY

If you notice any suspicious activities on your account or with your card, do not hesitate to report to your bank as soon as possible. If you have a bank that runs an effective customer care line, call to report your suspicion.

There is nothing wrong in walking into the nearest branch of your bank to lodge such complaints. It is good for customers to be wrong on what they feel is happening on their accounts than to adopt a laid-back approach and lose their money.

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DO NOT KEEP ALL YOUR SAVINGS IN ONE ACCOUNT

A fundamental rule bank customers are encouraged to imbibe is not having all their savings stashed in just one account.

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In the event that an account gets hacked and money gets swiped through card fraud, such affected customers would have something to fall back on, while recovering from the devastating effects of such misfortunes.

To have all of one’s savings in just one account is no longer safe, as the world is now full of marauding fraudsters, looking for their next prey to pounce on.