We are living in the era of digital transformation! We are a generation that loves having access to everything on our fingertips and are comfortable with the new normal of getting work done from the comfort of our homes.
Pakistan has been no different in this, with online and digital banking slowly but surely gaining the trust of banking customers all over the country.
Several banks are working towards providing the customers with the best banking solutions that are safe, hassle free and time saving. It is a brave new world out there. The world has been changing rapidly and with it the banking ways are also moving towards digital solutions. As the need for fast paced, global, banking services, transactions and online payments has grown, so has the world of digital and online banking.
More recently, with the onset of the covid-19 pandemic one cannot be expected to stand in queues anymore, or visit crowded bank branches unless absolutely necessary. The risk is far too great. Banking online is an elegant solution, but one that comes with its own set of risks, most prominent of which are the many spoofing and phishing rings that are a challenge to the customer’s safety.
One of the leading apps is the UBL’s new Digital App, that brings you all the conveniences of online banking in the most safe, and secure way possible. The digital app can be used to perform all kinds of online transactions on a simple, stress-free, user-friendly interface, and in the safest way possible. Thereis much to be wary of when banking remotely in Pakistan. For starters, there seems to be a new scam every day. Just as digital and online banking was picking up in Pakistan because of the covid-19 pandemic, the scammers have also upped the ante.
However, the good thing is that most of these scams use the same techniques that can be easily thwarted using state of the art security measures and basic awareness among the banking clients.
How do the scammers operate?
Imagine this. You get a call from your bank’s UAN number (through call spoofing), whichyou unknowingly receive. the other end, a very well-spoken representative from the bank tells you that there is some problem with your account, and you need to answer a few questions to sort it out.
If it is not a bank representative, it might be someone posing as an army colonel or someone from a different national institution. The goal of these callers is to mine you for information and use it to get into your digital account and steal your money and data.
In the world of scamming, this technique is known as social engineering. The simplest way of explaining this is that it is the art of manipulating people into giving up confidential information. This term is used for a broad range of malicious activities accomplished through human interactions.
In terms of banking, or more specifically digital banking, social engineering refers to the practice of using psychological manipulation to trick banking customers into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information, such as OTP (one-time password) for logging into mobile banking applications or email addresses etc.
Call spoofing
But how do these scammers get the numbers they call their victims from in the first place? This is done through a technique called call-spoofing. So, the banker or soldier that calls you has essentially the process of changing the caller ID to any number other than the calling number. Most spoofing is done using a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service, or IP phone that uses VoIP to transmit calls over the internet.
Seeing the official number of the bank, with an unnoticeable digit here or there, customers are easily tricked into believing the person on the other end. This is where the UBL digital app comes in.
Is the UBL app safe?
The UBL app is one of the safest banking apps. It uses a combination of layered but user-friendly protection measures and extra steps to make the app as safe as possible.
The UBL app, which industry insiders say has one of the best enterprise grade security ensure 2 factor authentication for conducting transactions. However, the customer must always be vigilant against frauds. So here is what UBL advises its customers:
- No matter what, UBL, as a reliable and responsible bank, always advises its customers to never share their ‘One Time Password’ (OTP), ATM pin, User ID, etc. with anyone even if they are claiming to be an employee of the bank
- The Bank also constantly interacts with its customers through UBL’s official social media handles and sends numerous emails as well as SMSs, in both Urdu an English, to alert the customers about the fact that the bank never asks any individual to share such confidential details online or over the phone. If a customer gets a call of such nature, he/she should immediately decline the caller and avoid being scammed. They should at once inform their bank and adhere to all safety protocols in order to avoid any kind of loss
- UBL also continuously trains their staff so that they not only are well aware of the safety protocols, but also are well equipped to educate and efficiently help the customers in case of an attempted scam or any other mishap
But what’s the big deal about this app?
Customer safety is utmost to UBL, but with robust security the UBL digital app also brings a new kind of banking to your pocket. The new and improved app is for #TheNewYou, and brings state of the art banking facilities to your smartphone with a vast array of new features and improvement to make your life easier and safer.
The app offers convenient customer onboarding, easy access to controllingprofile information, downloading password protected account statement, paying credit card bills easily, ordering, as well as activating cheque books & Debit card and many other features refashioned to suit the customer’s needs.
So stay safe, stay away from scammers, keep using the new UBL app and move on towards becoming #TheNewYou.
