FM Nirmala Sitharaman stresses building awareness to curb cyber fraud

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said there was a need to build awareness among people on cyber frauds and take the reins of technology in our hands to stop scammers from gaming the system.

Speaking at the 'DATE with Tech' event, the minister said to stop cyber frauds, where people are duped by way of a phone call or SMS, the government periodically reviews public sector banks, and regulator RBI reviews its own systems. Insurance companies also review their systems.

"We are constantly doing what is required. Unless awareness, unless we are able to build that alertness in the mind of people that I should not go by anything that is said on my phone is built, citizens are at risk," Sitharaman said.

She said at the micro level there is concern about people getting random calls putting them in a situation where they are getting trapped and as a result ending up losing money.

"Those people who game the system probably are one notch ahead of us in terms of using and misusing technology. On that, there is a lot of work required. It is a never-ending game because technology is such an animal that keeps moving and racing much ahead of you. You have to be sure that you got the reins in your hand," Sitharaman said.

The minister said large institutions, systemically sensitive institutions should have enough technology and teams adequately trained to firewall on an everyday basis, and keep checking whether the firewall is up to the job or not.

"On the other hand, we have concerns about people calling you and asking you to transfer money and bringing some legitimacy in the conversation by knowing some details about you and you tend to believe that it could be a genuine thing," she said.

The government institutions, banks and insurance companies are trying to build awareness saying you please don't trust any caller unless you have your own ways of establishing that it is indeed the right person who is talking to you, she said.

"India is in a transitional stage, we are at a stage where we are transforming from what was before to what is now which is completely digital," Sitharaman said.