Mangaluru : Superintendent of Police Sharanappa S.D. has asked bank officials to be more vigilant and throw more focus on cyber security to prevent instances of fraudulent withdrawal of money from accounts.

Chairing a district-level meeting on bank security on Wednesday, Mr. Sharanappa asked banks to work on security systems, namely making One Time Password mandatory for all online transactions.

“I have seen many e-commerce sites allowing transactions without the OTP. Making OTP mandatory will prevent many fraudulent transactions,” he said.

Mr. Sharanappa cited a recent incident reported in Vittla Police Station when as much as Rs. 70,000 was fraudulently deducted for purchase of articles from an online store.

He said the account holder lost the amount a few hours after he revealed his debit card number and the security code on the card to a person who had called him claiming to be a bank official. “If OTP was insisted upon, he could have saved his amount,” Mr. Sharanappa said and added that there was a strong suspicion of hacking of bank servers. “Throw more focus on cyber security,” he said. Mr. Sharanappa said the hackers were also taking advantage of relaxation of ‘Know Your Customer’ norms — allowing opening of accounts on basis of documents address and photo identity proof.

Bank accounts were being opened and closed a few weeks later. For this, Mr. Sharanappa referred to the case of a medical student from Sullia losing Rs. 40,000 that he had deposited to an account in Bengaluru for purchase of a second hand car.

“The amount was withdrawn and the account was closed by the accused, who is from a north eastern state,” he said.

Mr. Sharanappa said there have been six such frauds registered in the district this year. “Now the victims are those from rural areas. It is difficult for the police to trace down the accused. It is better banks keep a watch on suspicious transactions and take steps to prevent frauds,” he said.

Lead District Manager Prabhu Alagundi, Assistant General Manager of Syndicate Bank P. Narayan Naidu and officials from different nationalised and private banks attended the meeting.