AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 11088 - Bank customers lose Rs 4 lakh, number portability turns tool for phishing

In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.

On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.

In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.

In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.

In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.

"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi

Ram Krishnaswamy

Sydney, Australia.

Aadhaar

The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018

When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi

“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.

Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.

Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha

“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh

But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.

August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden

In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.

Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.

Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.

UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy

1) Denial

2) Issue fiats and point finger

3) Shoot messenger

4) Bury head in sand.

God Save India

Friday, April 21, 2017

11088 - Bank customers lose Rs 4 lakh, number portability turns tool for phishing - TNN

Bank customers lose Rs 4 lakh, number portability turns tool for phishing

Rachel Chitra | TNN | Updated: Apr 20, 2017,

CHENNAI: As many as seven customers of HDFC Bank in the city lost Rs3.99 lakh this month in a phishing attack that is alleged to have been done with the collusion of employees at telecom service providers. Three customers of State Bank of India in Chennai also lost money in a similar scam, sources said.

The modus operandi of the conmen is to call up customers and identify themselves as officials of Reserve Bank of India or other banks.To make the call authentic, first an automated message says, "State Bank of India does not require its customers to share their password, ATM PIN or CVV numbers. Please do not share such information with our call centre representatives." After this, the fraudsters start speaking to customers.

Then the fraudster would instruct the customer to SMS *121# to update their e-KYC and Aadhaar details. After the customer sends an SMS to *121, the fraudster using a blank SIM gets the number ported. With the "new ported number" the fraudster does fund transfers as the OTPs are sent to the registered mobile number -which is with him. HDFC Bank lodged complaint with the Vepery police station in the city this week after the fraud was detected.

"We have seen quite a few instances, where fraudsters are able to obtain duplicate SIMs. They prepare forged documents, submit them to telecom service providers and get a duplicate SIM issued after saying the original was lost. Meanwhile, the genuine customer would have his SIM deactivated and would not even be aware of fund transfers from his bank accounts till it is too late," said inspector D R Anbarasan, cyber crime, Chennai. But to carry out a fund transfer, the fraudster would need the person's bank account number or net banking user ID -so how does he get it?

Banks said a possible area of leaks could be cheque or cash deposit slips from dustbins.

"Customers fill in their names, bank account number, PAN card information and registered mobile number in the deposit slips. When people make a mistake, they immediately throw it in the dustbin -a potential gold mine for fraudsters.Customers also leave acknowledgment slips around," said an SBI branch manager.

Top Comment

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santosh

Another possibility is attention diversion tactics to obtain bank details. Most bank branches, including SBI, often carry notices warning customers about fraudsters posing as bank officials. "During demonetisation, because of the heavy rush there were a lot of fraudsters who would pose as bank officials.They would pretend to help old people in filling up forms. What they were actually interested in was in getting their bank account details -within a few weeks the same people would get calls asking them for their passwords," said the manager. In the case of HDFC Bank's customers, who were defrauded this month, they received calls threatening that their "bank account or debit card would be blocked, if they did not update their e-KYC, Aadhaar details as mandated by law." Cybersecurity experts said another method for obtaining bank account details was through third-party apps. "If you notice many of the free mobile apps, always ask access to our galleries, location, contacts emails. There is always the risk of fraudsters getting their hands on financially sensitive information through third-party mobile apps," said Vinod Senthil, CEO, Infysec, a Chennai-based security provider for banks.