Digital Payment Fraud Is Rising — How to Stay Safe

As digital payments grow more popular, bank, card and mobile-banking fraud is rising with them. Scammers once mainly targeted mobile-banking users; now they target card holders too. With credit/debit cards and mobile banking handling so much money online, protecting your information and funds matters more than ever.

Common fraud tactics

Scammers often call pretending to be bank officials, claiming your card needs 'updating' or your account has a 'problem' to verify — or they dangle a fake offer or prize. They typically ask for:

• Cardholder name & expiry date
• CVV (the 3–4 digit number on the back of the card)
• PIN (personal identification number)
• OTP (one-time password)

Share even one of these and scammers can shop with your card, move money to a mobile wallet (like bKash or Rocket), or steal your funds in other ways.

How to prevent it

• Verify via the bank's official number — banks never ask for secrets over a phone call.
• Never share an OTP — it's only for confirming your own transaction.
• Don't click suspicious links — go to the bank's official site directly, not via a link.
• Keep card details, PIN, CVV and OTP private — never over phone or message.
• Monitor your statements regularly; report anything suspicious to the bank immediately.
• Keep your PIN truly secret — don't share it even with family or close friends.
• Be careful sharing your account number online; delete shared sensitive info after use.
• Beware 'your account is closed' calls — real banks never call asking for OTP/PIN.
• On payment gateways, check the URL is the real site, not a phishing clone.
• Never open an account or buy a SIM with someone else's NID/phone — or open one for others with yours.

Scammers keep inventing new tricks, so protecting your banking information is essential. Making the people around you aware helps stop this kind of fraud and protects everyone from financial loss.