- Yes Bank detected fraudulent activity on its Multi-Currency Prepaid Forex Cards affecting 5,000 customers
- Unauthorised transactions worth about $0.28 million occurred between 3:30 am and 8:30 am on February 24
- The bank restricted e-commerce transactions from a Latin American country lacking two-factor authentication
Yes Bank shares are in focus, as the bank has rolled out additional security measures after detecting fraudulent activity on its Multi-Currency Prepaid Forex Cards, following unauthorised transactions worth about $0.28 million that impacted nearly 5,000 customers. The share price was up nearly 1.5%, trading at Rs 21.01 apiece.
The bank said its fraud monitoring systems picked up an unusual spike in transaction declines during the early hours of February 24, between 3:30 am and 8:30 am (IST), prompting immediate intervention, as per an exchange filing.
As part of its response, Yes Bank has restricted e-commerce transactions originating from the specific Latin American country where the fraudulent transactions were routed. The country in question does not mandate two-factor authentication for online transactions, which the bank flagged as a vulnerability. The incident involved attempts on specific card BIN numbers linked to forex cards issued in partnership with BookMyForex.
While transactions worth approximately $0.28 million were approved during the window, the bank's monitoring and control mechanisms declined 688 unauthorised attempts, preventing an additional estimated loss of around $0.1 million. The rapid identification and blocking of suspicious activity limited the duration and scale of the breach, the bank said.
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Focus On Prevention
Beyond transaction curbs, Yes Bank is working with the relevant card network to initiate chargebacks for the affected transactions to ensure that impacted customers do not suffer financial losses. The bank said it continues to closely monitor card activity and coordinate with stakeholders to safeguard customer interests.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also called in senior executives of Yes Bank after the significant data breach involving the Yes Bank–BookMyForex multi‑currency forex card, according to two individuals familiar with the matter cited by The Economic Times. The report indicates that sensitive card information, including card numbers and CVV details, of multiple users may have been exposed. In response, the central bank has asked Yes Bank to provide a comprehensive account of how the breach occurred, along with a detailed timeline outlining the events that led to the compromise of customer data.
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