Internet security giant Symantec recently conducted a survey in which it reported that cyber mafia have changed their techniques of gathering information from bank customers. Now these mafias are launching phishing websites in the names of leading banks and financial institutions in India. In the month of March alone there has been a 35% increase in the number of phishing attacks on Indian internet users.
It reported the cyber mafias are based in the US and some European and African countries are on the prowl. So people should be careful when receive an email asking to update personal confidential data online. People should double check from bank or income tax department before giving out the information to these cyber mafias.
They are camouflaged on the internet, using names of various banks, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and government departments. They are targeting banking information and personal financial details of people which they might later misuse it.
In the report Symantec has mentioned about phising website which was created in March by cyber criminals in the name of the RBI. The webpage of this phising website is different from the original RBI web portal, if the recipients are not careful they can get into cyber mafia trap. The cyber mafias are using a single web page to pass themselves as various banks and government agencies and are just changing logos and some key words to on the template to change identities. With close scrutiny you can easily identify fakes.
The phishing mail also have URL link. Clicking on the link, the target user will reach a website bearing the name of a bank or a government department. The mail requests the user to enter personal information, such as bank account number and password.
Most of the phishing websites created in March have URL extensions ending with .in, which actually indicates that they are Indian websites. On careful scrutiny it was found that the servers of these websites are located in the US.
According to a senior IT professional working with an internet firm, “The information provided by unsuspecting users could be used to siphon off money from their bank accounts. Their personal information might be used by cyber criminals to create fake registrations, fake ids and other illegal purposes.”
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
RBI revised cash limit for foreign travel
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised forex rules. Now travelers going abroad can take up to USD 3,000 or its equivalent amount in other currencies from Forex dealers and don’t need to take prior permission from RBI. The revised rules will be applicable with immediate effect, according to RBI notification.
But the revised ceiling will not be applicable to persons going to certain specified countries like Iraq, Libya, Iran, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. The notification further said the travelers going to Libya or Iraq will continue to get up to USD 5,000 or its equivalent in other currencies and no changes have been made in the provisions for travelers to Iran, Russia and CIS countries. Also forex dealers and money exchangers have been given permission to sell foreign exchange in other currencies other than American Dollar up to USD 3,000.
But the revised ceiling will not be applicable to persons going to certain specified countries like Iraq, Libya, Iran, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. The notification further said the travelers going to Libya or Iraq will continue to get up to USD 5,000 or its equivalent in other currencies and no changes have been made in the provisions for travelers to Iran, Russia and CIS countries. Also forex dealers and money exchangers have been given permission to sell foreign exchange in other currencies other than American Dollar up to USD 3,000.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
RBI issues new pricing rules for share transfers to NRIs
The Reserve Bank of India has issued new pricing rules for shares being issued or transferred to overseas Indians under the foreign direct investment policy.
According to new rules the price at which the shares are issued or transferred has to be the same as the price as per SEBI guidelines for the allotment, the RBI said in the guidelines put on its website.
Earlier, the minimum price was the same as the existing market price or that worked out by a licensed chartered accountant, the bank said.
If the overseas Indians are transferring shares to local residents the transfer price must not exceed the price at which the overseas Indian got the shares.
According to new rules the price at which the shares are issued or transferred has to be the same as the price as per SEBI guidelines for the allotment, the RBI said in the guidelines put on its website.
Earlier, the minimum price was the same as the existing market price or that worked out by a licensed chartered accountant, the bank said.
If the overseas Indians are transferring shares to local residents the transfer price must not exceed the price at which the overseas Indian got the shares.
RBI asked banks to install extra cover to make mobile and phone banking safe
The Reserve Bank of India have issued instructions to banks to make mobile and phone banking safe to avoid identity frauds in non branch banking services.
To provide safety banks will have to install an extra cover guaranteeing the legitimacy of the customer carrying out the debit or credit card transaction through the phone. The RBI has strictly warned the banks that if they failed to do so they will have to pay penalty.
The RBI said that banks will have to complete this process by next year in which the debit and credit card customers will given an extra password for IVR (Interactive Voice Response) transactions.
Thus after the new security measure the customer will have to dial another extra password to verify the transaction other than the information which he had previously used for the transaction.
This measure has been taken to stop the increasing number of frauds using non branch methods. Earlier, from April 2009, RBI had instructed the banks to give an extra verification system based on the details not given on the cards, in case the card was not physically present.
However it is planning to extend this measure to include IVR transactions.
The security codes provided for security measures will vary from those seen on the cards.
The banks will also introduce system of ‘Online Alerts’ to the cardholder for the transactions where ‘card is not present’ worth Rs. 5000 and more.
To provide safety banks will have to install an extra cover guaranteeing the legitimacy of the customer carrying out the debit or credit card transaction through the phone. The RBI has strictly warned the banks that if they failed to do so they will have to pay penalty.
The RBI said that banks will have to complete this process by next year in which the debit and credit card customers will given an extra password for IVR (Interactive Voice Response) transactions.
Thus after the new security measure the customer will have to dial another extra password to verify the transaction other than the information which he had previously used for the transaction.
This measure has been taken to stop the increasing number of frauds using non branch methods. Earlier, from April 2009, RBI had instructed the banks to give an extra verification system based on the details not given on the cards, in case the card was not physically present.
However it is planning to extend this measure to include IVR transactions.
The security codes provided for security measures will vary from those seen on the cards.
The banks will also introduce system of ‘Online Alerts’ to the cardholder for the transactions where ‘card is not present’ worth Rs. 5000 and more.
RBI asked banks to install extra cover to make mobile and phone banking safe
The Reserve Bank of India have issued instructions to banks to make mobile and phone banking safe to avoid identity frauds in non branch banking services.
To provide safety banks will have to install an extra cover guaranteeing the legitimacy of the customer carrying out the debit or credit card transaction through the phone. The RBI has strictly warned the banks that if they failed to do so they will have to pay penalty.
The RBI said that banks will have to complete this process by next year in which the debit and credit card customers will given an extra password for IVR (Interactive Voice Response) transactions.
Thus after the new security measure the customer will have to dial another extra password to verify the transaction other than the information which he had previously used for the transaction.
This measure has been taken to stop the increasing number of frauds using non branch methods. Earlier, from April 2009, RBI had instructed the banks to give an extra verification system based on the details not given on the cards, in case the card was not physically present.
However it is planning to extend this measure to include IVR transactions.
The security codes provided for security measures will vary from those seen on the cards.
The banks will also introduce system of ‘Online Alerts’ to the cardholder for the transactions where ‘card is not present’ worth Rs. 5000 and more.
To provide safety banks will have to install an extra cover guaranteeing the legitimacy of the customer carrying out the debit or credit card transaction through the phone. The RBI has strictly warned the banks that if they failed to do so they will have to pay penalty.
The RBI said that banks will have to complete this process by next year in which the debit and credit card customers will given an extra password for IVR (Interactive Voice Response) transactions.
Thus after the new security measure the customer will have to dial another extra password to verify the transaction other than the information which he had previously used for the transaction.
This measure has been taken to stop the increasing number of frauds using non branch methods. Earlier, from April 2009, RBI had instructed the banks to give an extra verification system based on the details not given on the cards, in case the card was not physically present.
However it is planning to extend this measure to include IVR transactions.
The security codes provided for security measures will vary from those seen on the cards.
The banks will also introduce system of ‘Online Alerts’ to the cardholder for the transactions where ‘card is not present’ worth Rs. 5000 and more.
RRB customers to get online facility & biometric ATM cards for banking transaction
Almost all the nationalized commercial banks offer on-line transaction facilities, working on the same line, Rushikulya Gramya Bank (RGB) in Orissa will soon offer on-line transaction facilities and issue smart and biometric ATM cards to its customers.
The bank will update its technology in association with its sponsor Andhra Bank. First the bank will implement Core Banking Solution (CBS) in all its 81 branches located in southern Orissa’s Ganjam and Gajapati districts.
The bank plans to bring all its branches under CBS by March 2011 as against the last date of September 2011 set by the central government.
The Centre has also instructed all the RRBs (regional rural banks) across the country that by the end of September next year they should implement CBS facilities in all their branches with the help of their respective sponsor banks.
Chairman of the bank P V S T R Seshagiri Rao said, "We have already prepared the roadmaps for the CBS in support of our sponsoring bank Andhra Bank."
Most probably in July the first branch having CBS facility will start operations and by the end of September around 50 per cent of the branches will be covered under CBS. He said by the end of the current fiscal all branches are likely to be covered under CBS.
He said, "We will tie up with Andhra Bank to use the ATMs of the sponsoring bank by the customers of RGB after implementation of the CBS. Any customer of RGB will operate their transaction through ATMs of Andhra Bank anywhere in the country like any other commercial banks."
The bank will update its technology in association with its sponsor Andhra Bank. First the bank will implement Core Banking Solution (CBS) in all its 81 branches located in southern Orissa’s Ganjam and Gajapati districts.
The bank plans to bring all its branches under CBS by March 2011 as against the last date of September 2011 set by the central government.
The Centre has also instructed all the RRBs (regional rural banks) across the country that by the end of September next year they should implement CBS facilities in all their branches with the help of their respective sponsor banks.
Chairman of the bank P V S T R Seshagiri Rao said, "We have already prepared the roadmaps for the CBS in support of our sponsoring bank Andhra Bank."
Most probably in July the first branch having CBS facility will start operations and by the end of September around 50 per cent of the branches will be covered under CBS. He said by the end of the current fiscal all branches are likely to be covered under CBS.
He said, "We will tie up with Andhra Bank to use the ATMs of the sponsoring bank by the customers of RGB after implementation of the CBS. Any customer of RGB will operate their transaction through ATMs of Andhra Bank anywhere in the country like any other commercial banks."
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
RBI to issue polymer notes of Rs 10 denomination in five cities
Soon you will see polymer notes of Rs 10 denomination in the market. The Reserve Bank of India will be issuing 100-crore polymer notes of Rs 10 denomination to improve their longevity and to thwart counterfeiters.
While speaking at the Foundation Stone laying function for the Bank Note Paper Mill at Mysore RBI governor D Subbarao told that in the beginning RBI will be introducing these notes in five cities. Globally, currency authorities of many advanced economies such as Canada and Australia have already introduced the polymer currencies.
The governor said polymer notes are more environment friendly. He added, “Considering the relatively long life of polymer notes and their amenability to re-cycling, the ‘carbon footprint’ of polymer notes vis-à-vis paper banknotes is likely to be on the plus side. Regardless, this is one of the issues that we will study during the pilot phase, and will embark on polymer notes on a long-term basis only if the cost-benefit calculus is decidedly positive in all dimensions.”
This year India will be printing around 17 billion pieces of paper currency. He said, “Producing our own paper is decidedly cheaper, and a check against counterfeiting.” In international terms India’s demand for banknote paper — 18000 MT per year is quite huge, and there are just 3/4 large producers. Mr Subbarao said, “This situation exposes us to vulnerabilities of a suppliers market in terms of price, quantity and timelines, something that we should avoid or minimize.” He added the major countries like the US, Japan, China, Brazil, Russia and countries in the euro area and even smaller countries like South Korea, Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan make their own bank note paper.
Expressing his views on the trend in counterfeiting he said, “By an international metric, the incidence of counterfeit notes in India is not alarming” and added that counterfeiting per se is a matter of serious concern for the government and RBI.
As per the figures, Australia detected seven pieces of counterfeit notes per million notes in circulation (2008-09), in Canada it was 76 (2008). In New Zealand, there are 0.71 counterfeits per million notes in circulation (2008-09), whereas in Switzerland it was 10. As for the euro, there was roughly about one counterfeit per 14,600 bank notes in circulation (2008).
Whereas in India, in 2008-09 fake notes detected by banks and fake notes found in remittances received by RBI amounted to eight for every one million notes in circulation. Mr Subbarao clarified this data does not include the counterfeits that were seized by the police.
While speaking at the Foundation Stone laying function for the Bank Note Paper Mill at Mysore RBI governor D Subbarao told that in the beginning RBI will be introducing these notes in five cities. Globally, currency authorities of many advanced economies such as Canada and Australia have already introduced the polymer currencies.
The governor said polymer notes are more environment friendly. He added, “Considering the relatively long life of polymer notes and their amenability to re-cycling, the ‘carbon footprint’ of polymer notes vis-à-vis paper banknotes is likely to be on the plus side. Regardless, this is one of the issues that we will study during the pilot phase, and will embark on polymer notes on a long-term basis only if the cost-benefit calculus is decidedly positive in all dimensions.”
This year India will be printing around 17 billion pieces of paper currency. He said, “Producing our own paper is decidedly cheaper, and a check against counterfeiting.” In international terms India’s demand for banknote paper — 18000 MT per year is quite huge, and there are just 3/4 large producers. Mr Subbarao said, “This situation exposes us to vulnerabilities of a suppliers market in terms of price, quantity and timelines, something that we should avoid or minimize.” He added the major countries like the US, Japan, China, Brazil, Russia and countries in the euro area and even smaller countries like South Korea, Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan make their own bank note paper.
Expressing his views on the trend in counterfeiting he said, “By an international metric, the incidence of counterfeit notes in India is not alarming” and added that counterfeiting per se is a matter of serious concern for the government and RBI.
As per the figures, Australia detected seven pieces of counterfeit notes per million notes in circulation (2008-09), in Canada it was 76 (2008). In New Zealand, there are 0.71 counterfeits per million notes in circulation (2008-09), whereas in Switzerland it was 10. As for the euro, there was roughly about one counterfeit per 14,600 bank notes in circulation (2008).
Whereas in India, in 2008-09 fake notes detected by banks and fake notes found in remittances received by RBI amounted to eight for every one million notes in circulation. Mr Subbarao clarified this data does not include the counterfeits that were seized by the police.
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