Some people just ask for trouble when it comes to money. Although having a bank account is a serious matter, many Indians have been discovered to store their debit card and credit card ATM PIN, Aadhaar card, PAN number, and other passwords on their phone or email. Personal and private information security is an important, but often overlooked, task that many users fail to take seriously – both in India and abroad. Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that cybercrime is on the rise, despite the fact that many people are staying indoors during the pandemic. One of the most popular ways for hackers to obtain user information is through phishing and other deceptive techniques designed to elicit information from an unsuspecting user. According to a recent survey conducted by social media platform LocalCircles, many users still do not follow security practises recommended by experts, instead using insecure methods to store their bank debit card and debit card ATM PIN, Aadhaar card, PAN number, and other information.
Over 24,000 responses were collected as part of the survey from 393 districts across the country, with men outnumbering women by 63% to 27%. Twenty-nine percent of survey participants (out of 8,158 responses) said they gave their debit card and credit card ATM PIN to "one or more" close family members. Four percent said they gave it to domestic employees. However, 65 percent stated that they do not share the information with anyone else.
The survey also yielded concerning results regarding the storage of personal information. One question concerned how users handled their bank account information, debit or credit card (CVV) number, ATM PIN, Aadhaar card, or PAN number. Twenty-one percent of the 8,260 respondents said they had their information memorised (which is generally bad because it could imply password reusing), while 39 percent said they kept their passwords in written form on paper.
Meanwhile, 33% of respondents said they kept this information digitally on their phones, email, and computers. According to the survey, approximately 11% of respondents were storing important information in their phone's contact list, which can be disastrous for privacy because many apps request access to a user's contact list, and a service with poor security practises can leak all of your personal information to malicious users.