Recently, Google was forced to shut down its Google+ division because of a data breach and because of that data of thousands of consumers were exposed to third parties. But the breach was not the worst that happened.
Officials just found out that the breach happened because of a flaw in Google Maps, this allowed scammers in Maharashtra to edit the contact details and addresses of major banks, now the scammers used to get call of account holders, Scammers then forced customers to reveal their bank details like CVV and ATM PINs. According to Google’s User Generated Content policy, any user who uses Google can edit details on Google Maps.
According to a local police, crooks in Thane are misusing this feature of Google Maps to mark themselves as bank branches. They used to find a branch of a bank on Google Maps and then used to change the contact details on Maps so that if people call the bank they could pose as a bank official.
“We have received at least three complaints from the Bank of India (BoI) over the last one month. Superintendent of Police Balsing Rajput of the State cyber police told The Hindu. “In all three instances, we immediately notified the authorities at Google.” Police believe that scammers are doing this for the last month.
Experts recommend certain precautionary measures to avoid becoming a victim to such scamming tactics.
You should never give your bank’s contact information to unofficial sources.
Helpline numbers are readily available on the official websites of banks.
Banks never ask for PIN or CVV details over the phone, and generally only demand the officially registered number or a previously created security question to identify the customer.
