The pandemic increased various financial frauds. One of the most common frauds that emerged is a loan fraud.
With people losing jobs and getting pay cuts despite having high financial commitments, fraudsters decided to make use of this helplessness and started offering easy loans without
any verification checks.
The Indian Banking sector in 2019-20 saw a 159% increase in dubious transactions
that amounted to around Rs. 1.86 trillion. 45,613 cases of loan fraud were reported by 90 banks and financial institutions till March 31, 2021, according to media reports.
This data is a proof to the fact that scammers go to the lowest levels to fraud people, by misusing their financial insecurities in the time of uncertainty.
How can you protect yourself from being scammed by fraudsters?
- Please do not communicate with anyone if someone calls you from any unofficial number and claims to represent Buddy Finance or RBS Nidhi Ltd. Our official phone number is 011-6926-1584; don't respond to any other number. We don't call our customers from unknown numbers.
- Please do not communicate with anyone if someone emails you from any unofficial email address and claims to represent Buddy Finance or RBS Nidhi Ltd. Our official email address is support@buddyfinance.in; don't respond to any other email address that is not registered with the domain @buddyfinance.in. We don't send email to our customers from unofficial email addresses.
- Please do not open any link if you receive an SMS from any unofficial sender ID that claims to represent Buddy Finance or RBS Nidhi Ltd. Our official sender ID is RBSLTD; don't respond to any other SMS that is not registered as RBSLTD. We don't send SMS to our customers from unofficial sender IDs.
- Please do not share your Debit/Credit card information or OTP with anyone.
Beware Of Frauds Through Third-party Apps
There are countless articles and stories on fraudsters tricking users into sharing personal details such as bank account numbers, credit/debit card details, UPI PIN or OTP and transferring funds into their own accounts.
Did you know that frauds can even happen if you do not share the personal details mentioned above? Yes, frauds can happen through third-party apps too!
What are these third-party apps and how do Fraudsters use them?
There are hundreds of free screen-sharing apps such as Screenshare, Anydesk, Teamviewer and more. These apps were originally used by engineers to fix issues on a phone from a remote location. These apps allow full access and control to a user's phone.
Fraudsters use third-party screen-sharing apps to control your phone for malicious purposes!
Remember: Buddy Finance never asks you to install any third-party apps. DO NOT install apps on somebody's request. Apps like Anydesk/Teamviewer, etc are misused by fraudsters to control your phone & view your saved card/account details from their own location. Report any suspicious activity on https://buddyfinance.in/contact
This is how fraud through third-party apps work:
- Users are approached by fraudsters who pose as Buddy Finance representatives.
- They ask users to download screen-sharing apps such as Screenshare, Anydesk, Teamviewer, etc to solve an issue immediately.
- While users think they are being helped, fraudsters use the opportunity to record the user's card number, CVV code and send an OTP for transferring funds into their own account through an SMS.
- Remember, screen-sharing apps allow access to your phone. Fraudsters view the OTP received on the user's phone and use it for transferring funds to their own account.
Stay safe & save yourself from frauds.
Buddy Finance never asks for confidential or personal details. If you are asked for such details by anyone posing as a Buddy Finance representative, please ask them to send you an email. Also, only respond to emails from the @buddyfinance.in domain.
Do not search for Buddy Finance customer support numbers on Google, Twitter, FB etc. The ONLY official way to reach Buddy Finance customer support is https://buddyfinance.in/contact. Never call/respond to unverified mobile numbers claiming to be Buddy Finance Support.
Savdhaan Rahein. Safe Rahein.
