Aadhaar Card Scam Alert! To Avoid Money Being Stolen Through AePS, Follow This Step
With the perks of digitalisation come the shortcomings as well. Digital scams make the headlines every other day.?
But this particular Aadhaar Card scam could drain money from your bank account without even a message notifying you about the debited money.
However, there is a way to protect your money by tweaking the setting to enhance protection.?
What is the Aadhaar card scam about??
In this new Aadhaar card scam, a scammer can steal money from your bank account by using a loophole in the Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS).?
Scammers steal money by knowing your Aadhaar number and the name of the bank with whom you have an account.?
The last step they need is simply to access your fingerprint data.?No OTP is required for authentication, and there is no SMS notification about the debited money.?
Earlier this year, the 'Cyberdome Kerala Police' posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), warning people about the scam and informing them about a portal to file complaints or claim refunds.
How do scammers get access to bank accounts and other information??
Scammers get to know an individual's Aadhaar number and name of bank account from common areas, such as cyber cafes, photocopy shops, hotels, etc, which are the prime spots where Aadhaar numbers can get stolen.?
Scammers usually stalk the victims to know the bank name from these common spots.?
For fingerprint data, scammers obtain it from land registry offices or other sources where fingerprints are used to authenticate services.?
The fingerprint data is then imprinted on artificial silicon thumbs, which are used to withdraw money using AePS.?
How can someone stay safe from the AePS scam??
There is a way to stay safe from the AePS scam and save your money from getting deducted.?
For this, Aadhaar card holders must lock their biometric data using either the mAadhaar app or the UIDAI website.?
AePS is enabled for all Aadhaar card holders by default, and biometric data is also unlocked by default and; thus, users need to disable it to stay safe specifically.?
Follow these steps to lock biometric data of your Aadhaar card:?
- Download the mAadhaar app on your smartphone (Android/iOS)?
- Sign up on the mAadhaar app using your Aadhaar-linked mobile number.?
- Verify your Aadhaar details and then choose to lock your biometric using the app. This can be unlocked anytime later if needed.?
- The app also has an option to lock your Aadhaar number. This prevents users from signing up for services online using their Aadhaar number and OTP.?
What is an Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS)??
Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) is a payment service that allows a bank customer to use Aadhaar as his/her identity to access his/her Aadhaar-enabled bank account and perform basic banking transactions like balance enquiry, cash withdrawal and remittances through a Business Correspondent.?
Introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), up to Rs 50,000 can be withdrawn using AePS.?
In order to get AePS enabled, a customer needs to provide KYC (Know Your Customer) information to open a new account, and Aadhaar Number should be linked with bank a/c.?
The following services are available on Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS):?
- Balance Enquiry?
- Cash Withdrawal '
- Cash Deposit?
- Aadhaar to Aadhaar funds transfer?
- Payment Transactions (C2B, C2G Transactions)? ??
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