Now, you can bank on netbanking
Little Yadav / DNA
March 11, 8:00 IST
http://www.dnaindia.com/mobile/report.php?n=1809661
Mumbai: Nationalised banks have started taking precautionary measures to ensure that people don’t lose their money through netbanking fraud. The measures were taken after Rs1 crore was transferred from an account with a nationalised bank to various accounts in 45 minutes using National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).
According to the police, every bank has its own system pertaining to NEFT. Some banks give a lag period of 24 hours to the customer (account holder) after s/he transfers funds to the beneficiary’s account. During these 24 hours, the account holder is sent an SMS on her/his registered mobile number through which s/he knows the status of her/his fund transfer. In case of any foul play, the account holder can approach the bank authorities and, subsequently, the police to report the matter.
Some banks, however, allow funds to reach the beneficiary’s account as soon as the transfer is made. Netbanking frauds are usually committed in the latter case, a police officer added.
A spokesperson of a nationalised bank said, “Earlier, we allowed funds to reach the beneficiaries’ accounts immediately after the transfer. However, after this incident, we have changed it. We now give a lag period of 24 hours to our account holders during which they can cancel the transaction.
In case of an emergency, only Rs50,000 can be transferred using Immediate Money Transfer.”
The spokesperson added that the mechanisms used by banks keep changing due to pressure and dynamics.
The netbanking fraud occurred on January 31 between 9.15am and 10am. It only came to light when an employee of the company, to which the account belonged, tried to log in and found that it was blocked. After informing the company’s director, officials used a secondary username and password to login only to find that Rs1 crore had been transferred into 12 different accounts. The matter was then reported to the Mulund police.
While the police managed to block the account in which more than Rs60 lakh was transferred, the remaining was withdrawn by the accused. In the following few days, the Mulund police arrested 16 people involved in the crime, including a Delhi resident.Many more arrests are likely in the case.