Laying a safety cordon

While 100 per cent elimination of fraud is not possible,the regulatory authority - the RBI - and the issuers banks are taking proactive measures to prevent such frauds.

While 100 per cent elimination of fraud is not possible,the regulatory authority the RBI and the issuers banks are taking proactive measures to prevent such frauds.

Reserve Bank. To enhance the security of online card transactions,the central bank has decided that it will be mandatory to put in place a system of providing additional authentication or validation. This will be based on information not visible on the card for all online card-not-present transactions except interactive voice response IVR transactions for which separate sets of instructions will follow. This will come into effect from August 1,2009.

The RBI has also said that it will become mandatory for banks to put in place a system of online alerts for all card-not-present transactions of the value of Rs 5,000 and above.

Banks. Many banks send SMS and emails to alert customers. In some cases,banks even call up their customers if they witness an unusual transaction from a customers account. Our fraud detection system helps to identify any unusual pattern in the customers spending behaviour,and we take steps to alert them, says R.L. Prasad,general manager,credit cards and personal loans,Standard Chartered Bank,India.

Products such as NetSafe from HDFC Bank also helps in mitigating online fraud. NetSafe allows its customers to generate a virtual card number using the existing physical credit or debit card. You can use this number to shop online up to the limit fixed by you. This number is valid for a maximum of 48 hours. The actual credit or debit card number is never used in these online transactions.

Card protection plan CPP. This plan was launched recently in India by CPP Assistance Services,a part of CPP Group of UK. In case of card loss or theft that occurs during a trip,the subscriber just needs to call CPPs 24-hour toll free number to report the loss or theft. CPP in turn calls the card issuers and cancels your cards. So if you have multiple cards,there is no need to call up all the banks separately in case of loss or theft. A call to just one number blocks all your cards. You need to enrol for this service.