Hyderabad: Identity fraud can be curbed only if banks and customers take preventive measures, say police. On the one hand, customers have to be careful while handing over signed documents and identity proofs to executives or third party persons for any purpose, to avoid any chances of their being misused; meanwhile, banks claim that such frauds take place at a third party level.
Police insist that banks get details of each customer verified by a permanent employee of the bank, and that the entire process gets linked with the Aadhaar card.
Firms should also verify the salary certificates of the customer with their employer. Police also suggest that OVD (officially valid bank document) letters with duly attested photographs of customers signed by a gazetted officer and utility bills should not be considered.
While ensuring Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance of customers, banks should also make sure that agents are also subjected to due diligence and KYC norms.
“A Unique Customer Identification Code (UCIC) will help banks and other financial institutions to identify the customers, avoid multiple identities and track and monitor the facilities they have availed. They should also put in place a periodical review of risk categorisation of their customers,” say police.
Meanwhile, banks are of the view that while they adapt and comply with safety measures to avoid customer data breach, such frauds can also be avoided by customers’ active participation.
A private banking official says customers should verify the credentials of the executive collecting the documents and the firm he is working for, which helps minimise risk.
“Never give multiple sets of documents to any executive, and each document should be signed mentioning clearly the purpose and date of the application. Ask for a receipt of documents and most importantly, avoid sending soft documents to banks or agencies,” he said.
He also warned that customers against using the loopholes suggested by the executives, which in turn could be exploited by the executives themselves.
