The de-legalisation of `500 and `1,000 notes has caused a cash crunch countrywide, prompting many people to adopt digital means of transactions for their daily needs. The basic security steps that should not be compromised by the users.

1. Maintain basic security at ATMs

Desperation for cash has made people queue up in front of automatic teller machines (ATMs) for long hours and in these difficult times they forget basic security protocol of ATMs.

People tend to line up one after the other, sometimes standing close enough to read the other person's account details and pin number.

Also, in many cases, the ATM guard is withdrawing currency for the not so-tech-savvy custom ers. While in most cases these are humanitarian gestures, users should be extremely careful about frauds and mis chief mongers.

2. Be careful with your card

As people are trying to juggle work along with demand for cash, they tend to hand over their card and pin number to office support staff to withdraw money on their behalf. While this is a very bad practice, people are resorting to it as a desperate measure.

This is something that banks strictly advise against. The entire sum lost will have to be borne by the customer, as per Reserve Bank of India guidelines.

3. Avoid using public wifi for bank transactions

As a lot of people might not have access to high-speed inter net, they have been using public wifi connections to make such transactions. This is not advisable at all. The biggest problem is -sometimes that public wifi can be created by miscreants who are actually using a mobile hotspot device. Or in most cases, the security parameters of public wifi networks are relaxed, which increases the risk. Public wifi should ideally be used for general surfing and not transactions or activities that require log in, especially net banking log in as credentials could get compromised.

4. Beware of phishing mails and compromised links

Social media has been flooded with links of websites that claim to track ATMs and can tell you which one has cash. In most cases, it is advisable not to open such links from unknown sources or that have come as forwards on popular messaging applications. In many cases, it has been detected that such links actually allow malware to enter into the victim's system and read the customer's bank or card details, thereby siphoning off funds.

5. Keep an eye on swiping of cards

As cash is not available in plen ty with the public, people are us ing their debit and credit cards to make payments. In many cases, people are using their cards for the first time or are using it across the places, restaurants or shopping malls.Customers should be extremely careful as to not give the card and the pin number to the waiter for him to swipe the card even if he asks for it. Also, they should keep a note of the amount debited once the card is swiped to prevent any unauthorised transaction to pass through undetected.