By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

You can protect yourself from e-payment fraud. It is not by abstaining from e-payment, but by observing the following simple steps.

CONFIDENTIALITY

This is the first and most important preventive measure against e-payment fraud. Critical is the confidentiality of your Personal Identification Number (PIN). Never disclose it to anybody, no matter how close, even if the person is your spouse.

Never disclose it to any bank staff, and don’t provide it in response to any email from any source. It is important to note that, banks don’t request PIN from their customers, not for any reason.

Notice also that when you use your card on ATM, PoS or on the web, when you input your PIN to conduct a transaction, the PIN is not shown, it is hidden. Rather the PIN is represented with   asterisks (****). It is so to make sure that if anybody is around and want to peep to discover your PIN, he/she would fail.

Furthermore, it is risky to keep your PIN in a written form or in your phone, except your disguise it. If you write down your PIN somewhere, somebody may discover it and use it to defraud you. In addition to your PIN, you should also keep your card, and documents or details of e-payment transactions as much as possible. This is because fraudsters can use your card information or details of e-payment transactions to defraud you.

CHANGE YOUR PIN

It is good to maintain the same PIN, but it is expedient that you change your PIN from time to time. It does not cost anything. This is necessary once you feel that your PIN has been compromised. Sometimes, it is difficult to keep people away when you are using your card, especially on PoS. If for any reason you use your card for internet transactions via a cybercafé or internet network you are not sure of the security, it is expedient you go to the nearest ATM or your bank to change your PIN.

TEXT ALERT

Some people don’t apply for text alert because of the cost but it can save you lots of money. It helps you monitor transactions on your accounts so as to immediately detect if there is a transaction you did not authorise and respond fast. In some banks, the alert is delivered even before the transaction is consummated (i.e. the alert is delivered before the ATM dispenses the cash). While it does not prevent e-payment fraud, the text alert gives you the opportunity to reduce the amount of money you would have lost to the fraudster.

CUSTOMER CARE CENTER

It is true that most customers don’t know the contact of their bank’s Customer Care Center. They do not because they don’t know the importance of such knowledge. Imagine, you received text alert of a cash withdraw from the ATM that you did not conduct, which implies e-payment fraud.

The easiest way to stop further withdrawal and reduce the loss is to contact via phone, the Customer Care Center of your bank and notify them of that illegal withdrawal and request they block further transactions on the account. It may even be when you lose your card, or you feel your PIN has been compromised. In such situation, knowledge of the contact of your bank’s Customer Care Center will come very handy and save you from losing all the money in your account.