The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank in Kathmandu has issued a special advisory warning citizens and financial service providers against a surge in online financial scams during the upcoming festive season. Based on banking transaction analysis, the central bank unit highlighted an elevated risk of digital fraud targeting the general public and the financial system as the use of digital banking, e-commerce, and online account creation expands during Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, and Chhath celebrations.
According to the regulatory unit, criminal individuals and organized groups are actively exploiting heightened digital transactions through fraudulent schemes. Prominent tactics include deceptive social media links offering fake festival lotteries and bumper gifts demanding advance tax fees, phishing schemes using counterfeit banking websites that steal one-time passwords and personal identification under the pretense of urgent KYC updates, fraudulent e-commerce pages collecting advance payments for discounted goods without delivering products, and identity theft involving forged citizenship documents to establish fake accounts.
Interested in this ad?
Would you like to continue to the link or provide your information for more details?
Please provide your information
To continue, please fill in your details
To mitigate these risks, the advisory instructs individual consumers to keep their OTPs, passwords, and PINs strictly confidential, avoid clicking unverified promotional links, verify website URLs prior to completing transactions, and prefer pay-on-delivery options when purchasing from unfamiliar social media vendors. Furthermore, banks, financial institutions, and digital payment providers have been advised to enforce robust KYC verification, implement red-flag monitoring for multiple accounts sharing contact details during extended public holidays, utilize transaction monitoring systems to detect rapid layering of funds, and train frontline staff while disseminating awareness notices via SMS and social platforms.
In the event of suspected fraud or identity misuse, victims are urged to immediately contact their respective financial institutions or digital wallet providers to block their accounts and notify the Nepal Police Cyber Bureau or local police stations without delay. These preventive measures and institutional safeguards aim to preserve consumer trust and ensure the overall security of Nepal's digital financial ecosystem during peak holiday periods.
