ATM scams are happening all over Pakistan, especially in the major cities of the country such as Karachi and Islamabad. Recently, a number of crimes related to the scams have come into the view which includes illegal removal of balance from bank accounts, blocking of ATM cards and more. The sources after the surfacing of such incidents claim that there has been an increase in a number of unauthorized access to accounts.
FIA started looking into the matter of the increased incidents of theft and fraud. A well-known bank of Pakistan said that their customers are losing millions from these cyber-attacks happening. Sources claim that malls have also been targeted in Karachi. Moreover, a close activity of the same crime also occurred in Islamabad. Therefore, to ensure no future losses banks are taking necessary actions and have blocked ATM cards for security reasons. Skimming devices are placed in the ATM machines so that the data can be collected such as “pin code “of the cardholder. Customers from Islamabad and Karachi state that their cards are being illegally used while (they) are not even retrieving money from it.
The financial inclusion in Pakistan is developing by the time and more people are benefiting from it. However, within the same time, the cyber-attacks and crimes are reportedly on the rise, as well.
Secure Networks (Pvt.) Ltd launches face recognition for ATM machines. It’s well equipped with the technology to recognize the user’s face during the transaction and alert them to be cautious if someone is trying to peek over their shoulders to obtain the PIN. Furthermore, it also refuses to serve an individual who is wearing sunglasses or a mask. This face recognition technology helps:
- To ensure that person who uses the ATM is the card’s owner
- To identify Bank VIP customers
- To verify the bank customer and determines the blacklist customers
- To prevent illegal usage of the ATM cards