How to Identify a Fake email/ website?
Fake emails/ websites are not always easy to identify, however the below given indicators can help you safeguard against such emails or websites, should you ever come across one of these:
Fake emails claim that your information has been compromised due to which your account has been de-activated/suspended, and hence ask you to confirm the authenticity of your information/ transactions.
While some emails are easy to identify as fraudulent, others may appear to be from a legitimate source. However, you should not rely on the name or address in the "From" field alone, as this can be easily duplicated.
Very often, such 'phishing' mails may contain several spelling mistakes and even the links to the counterfeit websites may contain a url with spelling mistakes in order to take you to a website which looks like that of your bank but is not. Whenever you use a link to access a website, be sure to check for the url of the website and compare it with the original. It is recommended that you type the url yourself whenever you access www.icici.bank.in or you may bookmark/store the same in your 'List of Favorites'
Some fake emails promise a prize or gift certificate in exchange for completing a survey or answering a few questions. In order to collect the alleged prize, you may be asked to provide your personal information.
Some fake emails appear to be sent by companies to offer you a job. These are often work-at-home positions which are actually schemes that victimize both the job applicant and other customers. Be sure to confirm that the job offer is from a genuine and reputed company.
Fake emails may direct you to counterfeit Web sites carefully designed to look real. Hence such websites may look very similar and familiar to you, but are actually used to collect personal information for illegal use.
Spoof web sites can be more difficult to detect, because even the address bar and padlock symbol that appear in your browser window can be faked. To make sure you are on our site, type in www.icici.bank.in and see if you get to the same place.
Below are some tips for recognizing whether you have possibly been a victim of fraud:
If you get collection calls regarding merchandise or services that you did not buy.
With a few simple steps, you can help protect your account and personal information from fake emails and web sites:
Read our tips to Secure your PC from online threats.
Maintain the secrecy of your PIN numbers and Passwords, see our Password-related Tips