Cyber Talk: Understanding Aadhaar Enabled Payments System

The Aadhaar Enabled Payment System is developed by NPCI that allows people to carry out financial transactions by furnishing just their Aadhaar number and verifying it with the help of their fingerprint/iris scan. Any bank customer who has their Aadhaar as their identity can access their respective Aadhaar-enabled bank account and perform basic banking transactions […]

The Aadhaar Enabled Payment System is developed by NPCI that allows people to carry out financial transactions by furnishing just their Aadhaar number and verifying it with the help of their fingerprint/iris scan.

Any bank customer who has their Aadhaar as their identity can access their respective Aadhaar-enabled bank account and perform basic banking transactions such as (a) Cash Withdrawal. (b) Cash Deposit (c) Balance Enquiry. (d) Aadhaar to Aadhaar Fund Transfer. (e) Mini Statement. (f) eKYC and (g) Get mini statement through a Business Correspondent Agent (BC) or Customer Service Point (CSP).

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Digital payments have increased rapidly in India, but these conveniences are now being exploited by online scammers. Nowadays, Aadhaar is used for almost all occasions as a means of validating identity. But these identity documents are being forged by cyber criminals and used for procuring various licenses and SIM cards to commit financial frauds.

The reason for the frauds is the lack of digital illiteracy. When people give their biometrics for Aadhaar authentication, they don”t know if it is for money getting credited or money getting debited.

Aadhaar-enabled payments related points

• Bank personnel inaccurately link wrong Aadhaar number or another person’s Aadhaar number in the actual customer’s account. The person whose Aadhaar number is incorrectly linked may use the funds (intentionally or unintentionally).

• Business Correspondent or Agent, Customer Service Point or an employee of the above person uses victims Aadhaar number, Virtual ID and Counterfeit Biometric and perform financial transactions like withdrawing the pension amounts etc.

• Cheating customer in the pretext of providing Aadhaar number, Virtual ID and Biometric Prints – Business Correspondent or Agent, Customer Service Point or an employee provides the Unique Identity Number and biometric which can used to misuse financial transactions.

• Victims are cheated using social engineering techniques. Fraudsters call victims posing as Business Correspondent or Agent, Customer Service Point or an employee of BC or CSP.

Manage Aadhaar card better

• Mobile, E-mail (Registration / Correction) – Aadhar has made it easier to change your details instantly and the process completes with One Time Password for your phone or e-mail as registered on Aadhar. If you lose your phone anywhere or change your mobile number or forgot the password of email, do not forget to update your Aadhaar card immediately as they are prone to social engineering scams.

• Biometrics Locking – Biometrics such as IRIS scans, fingerprints, photographs are linked to the Aadhaar card and it’s not easy to fraud in this regard. However there have been cases of Counterfeit Biometric which have been reported. In such cases, Aadhaar has now come out with a biometric locking option which can be done via UIDAI or the mAadhaar app.

• Virtual ID – The 16-digit number can be used in place of the Aadhaar number for all eKYC verification purposes, this can be used for all Virtual Transactions. you can download from https://myAadhar.uidai.gov.in/ (Select the masked VID Option)

• Masked Aadhaar – This number can be shared without the 12 digit number (Only last four digits are visible). The masked Aadhaar option basically allows you to mask your Aadhaar and you can download from https://myAadhaar.uidai.gov.in/ (Select the masked Aadhaar Option)

• Check regularly – You may log on UIDAI portal and verify your authentication and periodically check and implement new security introduced by UIDAI to safeguard from fraudsters

3-Step process for getting Aadhaar card

Step 1: Go to the official of Aadhaar UIDAI Portal https://www.uidai.gov.in/ and select “My Aadhaar” from the drop-down menu at the top right of the website page.

Step 2: Enter the Aadhaar number and Verify with OTP i.e., receive registered mobile number mail Id, then select the option of ”Aadhaar Services” section.

Step 3: After Clicking in Aadhaar services this load in Next page. There you have to enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number along with the captcha and verify it and download your Aadhaar card which can be used for eKYC.

What to do if you are victim of Aadhaar scams

• The best way to protect yourself from being deceived is to avoid disclosing Aadhaar details including the OTP / PIN / Phone Numbers and Email ID’s.

• If you lost money in AEPs (a) Immediately disable your biometric link from your Aadhaar by logging into UIDAI portal. (b) Complain to the bank and the bank authorities will take help from NCPI to resolve the issue.