Safety lies in being vigilant

In recent years ATM usage has grown substantially in the country,more so after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) laid down guidelines that allow customers of one bank to use the ATMs of other banks free of cost. Such usage has however been limited to a maximum use of five times in a month. According to industry sources,after RBI issued this guideline,the usage of ATMs of some banks has increased by almost 50 per cent.

The risk

Carrying out transactions through ATMs is safe as every transaction is validated through dual factor authentication — the ATM card that the customer has in physical possession and the ATM personal identification number (PIN) which only the customer knows.

However,there is no substitute for caution when dealing with money. Keep your eyes wide open to protect yourself from being made a victim of fraud. “All the information that is exchanged between the ATM and the bank’s server is encrypted with the help of triple DES encryption technique and can not be intercepted in between. Thus realistically the only fraud that can happen at the ATM is by means of card skimming — a technique used by fraudsters to capture customer information stored on the magnetic stripe of the ATM card by means of external ghost devices put up on ATMs. These devices are camouflaged under the ATM cover and put around the card reader device of an ATM. When the customer inserts the card at the ATM,all the customer information is stolen and subsequently misused,” says Chatterjee. But in the Indian context the chances of such incidents are rare as most ATMs in the country are manually guarded.

Precautions to observe

Customers need to observe a few precautions while using their ATM cards to prevent fraud or misuse. “The primary frauds that happen at ATMs in India occur either because the customer has written the PIN somewhere on the card,which is then misused by someone who gets possession of the card,or because the customer forgets to take the card out of the ATM,” says Chatterjee.

Nowadays most banks issue ATM cards that are also debit cards and can be used to make purchases. The debit card allows a customer the ease of cashless transaction as his bank account is directly debited by swiping the card at the shop. However,it also puts the consumer at risk if he is not vigilant. Customers should never disclose their date of birth or PIN to anybody they are handing their card over to at a shop as these details can be used by fraudsters.

When visiting an ATM a customer should be alert and look around for other people. If you are uncomfortable with the area or the people around the machine,use a different machine or use the machine some other time. Always remember to take your card back from the machine. Do this as soon as it pops out. If it remains in the slot for more than 30 seconds after the transaction has been completed,the machine will suck the card back to prevent it from being stolen. If the ATM you are using isn’t at your bank,it’s unlikely that you will get the card back immediately and you will have to get your bank to issue a new one.

To prevent any misuse you should choose passwords and PIN numbers that are difficult to guess. Avoid easily guessed PIN numbers or codes like birth dates,common numerical sequences,mother’s maiden name or your phone number. Do not write down the PIN number at some place where someone can see it,especially not on the jacket or the back of the card. Nowadays banks also use electronic surveillance techniques. So it is in the best interest of the customers that you should not enter an ATM room wearing a helmet. You should also not allow any other person to be present inside the ATM room while transacting. If customers are alert while transacting,most of the frauds at ATMs can be avoided.

swarup.chakraborty@expressindia.com