State Bank of India Credit Card Complaints - FRAUD

FRAUD

This article is about the one which I read when I surfing through the details of fraud and the information breach that is happening at Banks and the kind of information misuse happening in places where we place our trust. I do present the entire bitter experience a lady has undergone.

I am working in one of the Tata companies and that's how I received my Tata SBI credit card a few years ago. Today I writing in because I am an employee at 'a' particular company but only to tell you my story in brief and my experience with the SBI credit card.

The trust and faith I put in the name - TATA and State Bank of India is immense. There couldn't have been a more perfect combination to establish trust and credibility. However, this morning Feb 22, 2010 was an absolute shock and horrifying episode for me. I got a call from 0124 3992391 saying the below-

"Hi Ma'am, we are calling from the Income Tax Department - verification unit and we would like to verify your contact details". I was caught in the middle of something at my workplace and I politely asked what was this regarding to which the guy at the other end said " we are calling from the Income Tax Department, your address details are getting 'kharab' which means spoilt and hence we need to update it. I wasn't quite sure about what was happening but on insisting thought the financial year is coming to an end and maybe Income Tax Department - Government of India needs these details. I updated my address with this guy on the phone and gave the guy my current address, when he asked for a phone number, an alternate number I was going to give my mother's but then decided to give my office number.

For some strange reason I felt that there was something amiss as I am an individual who has been dealing and handling my IT stuff through my office (which of course is reputed and managed with expertise). I decided to ask the guy some details saying where are you calling from in Income Tax etc etc. to which he started floundering and hung up. I called the guy back as I had his number on my mobile. When I asked which office is this and the guy who received the phone asked - Is this Ms XXX

Moreover, this particular number was called back on by a colleague of mine and when the person received the call on asking why he said he was from the Icome Tax Department, he said " madam humne jooth bola, main apko bata rahan huin, ye hamara kaam hain". Now, you can get all the call logs between me and this number. There were a total of 2 calls I made this morning and they called me 3 times.

I knew immediately that this was a case of fraud. These guys were calling on behalf of SBI and saying they are calling from Income Tax Department. This is the highest amount of breach of personal details/private information.

Last month when I wanted to write a cheque for almost 20,000 to pay SBI, instead of writing January (01), I wrote February (02). I didn't know this till I started getting calls from SBI. When I explained that I had put in the cheque and gave them details, they were relieved at every call but never stopped calling me. I decided to call the SBI call centre myself and questioned why they are calling me to which they said - No payment is received BUT at the same time acknowledged that they have a cheque dated Feb. for Rs 19,586. Now they know that as - as of today the payment has gone through and SBI received the payment. I got a mobile SMS confirming that.

Even if I ignore the number of calls I got harassing me for the payment, my biggest problem is the call which was made today. Government of India call - Income Tax Department calling me for some verification!!!!!! This is unacceptable and should be dealt with absolute severity!!!!!!! It's a 'FRAUD' of the first order and there is no denying that. It has completely shattered the faith I had in this collaboration.

I have called up the call centre and spoken to some Prashant and Kaustabh Banerjee (Manager) who confirmed that the call was made from one of the floors in Gurgaon and he is looking into it and that it will be taken seriously..basically all the things you say to your customer when they are annoyed at the other end. While I was in chat with the SBI call centre, another call came from 0124 3992391 (I picked it up as Prashant the SBI associate asked me to) and the person who spoke at the other end sounded like a Haryanvi criminal. I am using these words not out of bias but any associate who loses his/her tone of politeness is not fit to be doing that job (especially when I was just struggling to find out who they were). Just to let you know this particular call was just made to ask me " Kya aap hamain batayangi kya hua" when I asked which company are you calling from he said " aapko batana hain ki nahi". I said you should ask your employee to which he said "humne Abhiskek is baath kari, he said he called from Income Tax Department'. I asked him to hang up and he just banged the phone.

I feel at loss. I have given my private information to a company that has no control over its processes. I feel it was a total Quality Control breach too.

Phishing on the Indian Tax department

BANGALORE, INDIA:
Security experts in Symantec has cautioned tax payers of a large scale pishing attack just when tax payers are set to file their annual returns.

Here are inputs from Ratnamala Dam Manna, Director, Security Technology and Response, Symantec:

Situation backgrounder

As per the last count, India has a tax-paying population of 31.5 million and with citizens getting increasingly prosperous and entering the tax bracket, the number is bound to increase. Furthermore the entire process has become less cumbersome for the average tax-payer since it has gone online. Add to that, the fact that India today has a burgeoning broadband penetration and a steadily increasing tech savvy population.
The popularity of online filing has increased again this year, with online filing of returns hitting a new high. No wonder then, they have entered the radar of cybercriminals.

Scammers offer you Tax Refunds

Fraudsters never seem to rest. They now have turned their attention towards phishing on the Indian Income Tax Department. It is the season of tax returns in India and it is known that people will file their income tax returns during this time of fiscal year in India. Hence, phishers have chosen the right time to phish the market as most of the users are not aware of these attacks.

Attackers send emails with subject line as “ Tax Return!“ with the below content:

“Dear applicant, After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible a tax refund of XXX Rupees. To access the form for your tax refund please click here.”

There is a link as “Tax Refund Online Form” in this email that leads to a phishing site which is a spoof of the Indian Tax Department site “incometaxindia.gov.in”. The webpage ask customers to submit their sensitive information like personal information, bank and credit card details.

After submitting the information the page redirects to the legit site of Indian Tax Department. The domain name of the fraud site is hosted on US based servers.

Internet users are advised to follow best practices to avoid phishing attacks. Here are some basic tips for avoiding online scams:

Caution:
* Please be careful regarding such kind of emails and URLs.
* Do not visit any links in the emails.
* Do not enter any of your details this kind of sites.
* Please use the legit site of http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/ for any help regarding the income tax refund.

Facebook, PayPal pair up

Facebook members will soon be able to use PayPal to make purchases, the two companies said last week, reports SFGate.

Facebook and PayPal, a unit of eBay, said they have agreed to a strategic relationship that will allow Facebook advertisers to offer the PayPal online payment system as an option.

Facebook will also offer PayPal for members to purchase virtual goods through its own Facebook Credits, which the Palo Alto social media giant has been testing for some games and applications.

Suppliers defend chip, PIN

Banking industry suppliers have lined up to defend chip and PIN, following the release of research last week from Cambridge University demonstrating how cyber crooks might be able to bypass security controls on credit and debit card transactions in shops, says The Register.

A four-man team from Cambridge University demonstrated how it might be possible to make 'verified by PIN' transactions using stolen (but uncancelled) cards without knowing the correct PIN number. The man-in-the-middle works by tricking a card into thinking a chip-and-signature transaction is taking place while the terminal gets a signal that a correct PIN has been entered.

But suppliers such as Thales and The Logic Group point out that chip and PIN has been a success in driving down the levels of fraud in retail transactions, while acknowledging that plastic card fraud has been displaced to the Internet and overseas ATM machines, rather than reduced, since the introduction of chip and PIN.

Mobile banking to double

The number of people subscribing to mobile banking services is set to annually double over the next five years, according to new reports, states BCS.

By 2015, the number of people around the world who will carry out financial transactions via their mobile devices will be approximately 407 million, a study by ABI Research found.

While growth in the sector has so far been slow in Europe and North America, Asia-Pacific markets have already increased hugely in number, led by India. There are currently already 52.2 million people who subscribe to mobile banking services within the Asian continent.

RBI to ramp up credit monitoring

RBI's NEW MOVE
The Reserve Bank of India is making a habit of making very strong and significant moves that are, in short, overhauling, streamlining and strengthening the credit market. All this augurs well for the banking system in India as it helps us field tight economic situations and come out strong each time.

A few days ago, RBI introduced the base rate system to address downward stickiness of loans and to keep a check on lending habits that could trigger and create problems akin to the United States' housing bubble crisis in future.

Now, RBI is taking it to the next level by introducing more credit information bureaus into the credit monitoring system. As the first step, it has now made official the in-principle approval it had provided Experian, a popular credit agency which has global operations.

In India, Experian started laying the ground for active operations in November 2009 when the Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Limited was formed. The company represents a joint venture with seven of India's leading public and private sector banks and non-banking financial institutions; Axis Bank, Federal Bank [ Get Quote ], Indian Bank [ Get Quote ], Magma Fincorp, Punjab National Bank [ Get Quote ], Sundaram Finance [ Get Quote ] and Union Bank of India [ Get Quote ].

RBI under the CICRA Act of 2005 has granted a full licence to operate an Indian credit bureau to Experian on February 18 under new regulations.

RBI has already granted in principle approval for two more agencies namely Equifax Credit Information Services and Highmark Credit Information Services, along with Experian Credit Information Company.

The other agencies are likely to follow suit with a formal licence in place from RBI.

The competition in this arena is expected to further strengthen the infrastructure capabilities of CIBIL, which currently has the first mover advantage and a huge database to its credit, not to mention a huge list of banks and financial institutions as its members.

On the other hand, the new entrants come with the rich experience of having handled various facets of credit agency activities in a different geographical setting. CIBIL has also been granted permission by RBI to maintain a telecom and insurance database going forward - which means phone bills and insurance premiums also need to be paid on time by the consumers!

In May 2009, CIBIL launched the new Personal Loan Score. So what does this actually mean? Well, this is nothing but an evaluation based on the most recent personal loan data available in the past few years.

Essentially this data pool will help the bank ascertain whether a person is eligible for a loan in terms of past repayment track record. Of course, this is largely dependent on the fact that the person applying for a new loan has already taken a personal loan in the past.

Based on the track record of how effectively that particular loan was repaid, the bank will decide on whether to approve the individual's loan application or not. If the person has defaulted or has faltered in between, etc., then based on the bank's discretion the interest rate they end up paying maybe higher.

This launch was done quickly, mainly to address the concerns surrounding rising loan defaults in recent times.

Further, to cement the process and to weed out or reduce the percentage of defaults going forward, more such initiatives are likely to be made available soon. Included among them are a home loan repository and a fraud repository.

As the names indicate, home loan repository will contain relevant and recent home loan data of individuals to help the bank decide on such aspects as refinancing an existing loan, providing top up loan etc. This is especially significant when an individual wishes to apply for a refinancing loan or a new home loan with a different bank.

A fraud repository is something related to weeding out people who indulge in fraudulent activities related to credit. This record will help weed out individuals who take loans never intending to repay etc. If a pattern is observed in certain individuals in the manner of taking a loan and not repaying willfully etc., their track record will prevent them from further misusing credit.

All these aspects are expected to further strengthen the credit system, weed out regular defaulters, eradicate fraudsters and help save the money that can go to genuine loan consumers who utilize the credit in the most appropriate manner.

In general, a repayment history of around six months is essential for a credit score to be assigned to an individual. Credit can be in the form of EMI (equated monthly instalment) payments for loans or credit card payments as well.

However, in the case of a personal loan score or a home loan repository data relevant only to these loans will be present. In such a scenario, the next step is to evaluate their credit score on the basis of their credit card repayment history.

If this data is also not available then an individual score may not have relevance. Other aspects like net worth, salary, employment details, etc will then come into the picture to evaluate loan eligibility.

All these measures are being taken to establish the credit worthiness of the potential borrowers. The entire credit information bureau scenario is also likely to get a face lift not only due to the introduction of these initiatives by CIBIL but also by the introduction of new credit agencies like Experian and the rest into the Indian credit monitoring system.

With RBI having granted consumer access to credit reports now, this will usher a new era to the way loans are being applied and granted.

This is expected to bring about a transparency in the credit system along with the base rate system to ensure there is a methodical inflow and outflow of money in the lending cycle.



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IT officials involved in scam

Five persons, including three Income Tax department officials and a television artist, have been arrested on charges of duping the department to the tune of Rs three crore by filing fake I-T returns of PAN card holders and illegally transferring refunds in their own accounts, CBI said here on Sunday.

The accused were identified as Dilip Vyas, I-T inspector Pramod Prabhakar, senior tax assistant Rajesh Pillai, I-T employee Raju Nagpure and television artiste Manoj Sangtiyani, CBI officials said.

While the main accused Vyas was nailed on February 17, the rest were arrested today, they said, adding that four more accused Mohan Ghadge, Sandeep Roy, Nidan Dalvi and I-T employee Shrikant are still absconding.

The officials said although Rs three crore fraud has come into light so far, the cheating amount may go over Rs 14 crore.

Explaining the modus operandi, CBI Joint Director (west zone) R R Singh said, "Vyas, posing as a chartered accountant, has collected PAN card numbers from 23 persons and bank account details and blank post-dated cheques signed by them.

"He then prepared fake IT returns, computation sheets and other related documents of these PAN card holders and provided the details to his aide Prabhakar.

"Subsequently, Prabhakar entered the said data into the computer system of IT department and generated e-refund which was electronically transferred to bank accounts of the PAN card holders."

Vyas then transferred the I-T refunds in his and aides' bank accounts in United Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank using signed cheques issued by the PAN card holders, leaving one per cent of the refund amount in the holders accounts, Singh said.

"In this manner, the accused have transferred about Rs three crore in their account in the last seven months. The accused had another 70 PAN card holders' details. The fraud might go over Rs 14 crore," he said.

The cheating came to light when one of the I-Ts top officials were tipped off about it on January 19, Singh said.

"Prabhakar knew all loopholes in the Information Technology Department and practises of the I-T department and took advantage of them to execute their plan," Singh said.

Stating that the software of the I-T is incapable of making online checking of the TDS payments, Singh said the officials should also regularly change their passwords to prevent misuse of the system.

CBI is also probing if the 23 genuine PAN card holders had any idea about the fraudulent practice by the accused, he said.