Aadhaar Card Fraud Alert: Update This Setting Of Aadhaar Card To Avoid Losing Money

The Aadhaar Card is an important document and an identity proof that is required to avail of various government subsidies. You need an Aadhaar Card for banking needs like applying for savings accounts, Credit cards, Personal loans, etc. Even to avail medical facilities, an individual needs an Aadhaar Card.

However, these days it has come to the limelight that fraudsters have been using different tactics to misuse an individual's Aadhaar card to fulfill their selfish motives. By using a loophole in the new Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS), scammers these days can drain your bank account to zero. In this scam, the fraudsters can steal money even without using OTP from any bank account just by having access to fingerprint data, an Aadhaar number, and the name of the bank.

Here the worst part is, you won't even get an SMS notification when money is debited from your account.
It is recommended to be very cautious in handling your Aadhaar while you are visiting Cyber cafes, photocopy shops, hotels, etc as these are prime spots where Aadhaar numbers are stolen. Once the scammers have these details they mostly stalk the victims to know the name of their bank.

In this fraudulent activity, the most important part of AePS jigsaw where scammers get creative is the fingerprint pattern. Scammers try to obtain fingerprint data of the Aadhaar Card holder from land registry offices or other sources where fingerprints are used to authenticate services. This fingerprint data is then imprinted on artificial silicon thumbs which are used to withdraw money using AePS.

In order to save yourself from losing your hard-earned money, it is important that Aadhaar card holders lock their biometric data either by using the mAadhaar app or the UIDAI website. As AePS is enabled for all Aadhaar card holders by default and biometric data is also unlocked by default, it is important for users to take note and disable it to stay safe.

How to keep your Aadhaar Card safe from scammers?

In order to disable AePS and lock the biometric data of your Aadhaar card, you need to download the mAadhaar app and then use your Aadhaar-linked mobile number to sign up.

Verify your Aadhaar details and choose to lock your biometric using the app. You can unlock biometrics using the app whenever you need to. You can also lock your Aadhaar number on the app to prevent users from signing up for services online using their Aadhaar number and OTP.

Note that the Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS) was recently introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The AePS initiative was introduced to ease microATM transactions up to Rs 10,000 per transaction. In a day, up to Rs 50,000 can be withdrawn through AePS.

How to download the mAadhaar app on an Android smartphone or iPhone?

• Open the Google Play Store and install mAadhaar app. For iPhones, use the App Store.
• Give the required permission for the mAadhaar app to download
• Once, the mAadhaar gets installed on your phone, set in a password for the app
• Remember that the password should be of 4 digits (all numerals).

Steps to follow to Lock Biometrics through mAadhaar App:

• Open the mAadhaar app, and log in using your user ID and password
• Click on the profile
• Tap on the Menu option
• Click on the 'Biometric Settings'
• Place a tick on the 'Enable Biometric Lock' option
• Tap on 'OK' and an OTP will be sent to the mobile number registered in Aadhar
• As soon as the OTP is entered, the biometric details will immediately get locked.