Public Computer and Cyber Cafe Login Theft through an app

How it looks through an app, the red flags and what to do.

Scam apps pretend to be a bank, a loan service, a game, a government service or a "support tool", and they ask for access to SMS, contacts, the screen or accessibility. Public Computer and Cyber Cafe Login Theft is one of the ways this shows up: Logging in to bank, email or government portals on a cafe or kiosk computer can expose passwords through keyloggers or saved sessions.

What public computer and cyber cafe login theft looks like through an app

• A screen-sharing or remote-control app that a caller asks you to install.
• A loan app that asks for contacts and photos.
• A "KYC", "challan" or "bank rewards" app from a link.

The set-up is a shared computer with software that records keystrokes, or a browser that is set to save passwords and open sessions. The operator or a previous user may have installed a keylogger, which saves every key you type and sends it to a remote person. Some kiosks show fake login pages that look like the real portal, or redirect to lookalike addresses that capture your credentials as you type them.

Red flags to check on the app

• A shared computer asks you to save passwords or stay signed in.
• The operator asks to see your OTP or takes your phone to 'help'.
• The web address looks slightly different from the real portal.
• The machine has unfamiliar software, toolbars or slow typing responses.
• It asks for accessibility, screen overlay, SMS or contacts without a clear reason.
• You were told to install it by a stranger or a caller.

What to do

1. Avoid net banking and sensitive logins on shared computers.
2. If you must log in, use a private window and log out completely when done.
3. Never save passwords, never read your OTP aloud and delete any downloaded files.
4. Call your bank, and call 1930 if money moved.
5. Do not install it. If it is installed, uninstall it now (Settings, Apps).
6. Open Settings and check Accessibility, Device admin apps and Install unknown apps for anything you do not recognise.

Report the fake app to the store it came from and, if money moved, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. If money moved, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in at once.
2. Call your bank on the number on your card and ask them to protect your account.
3. Change passwords for email, banking and portals from a trusted device, and log out other sessions.
4. Check which documents you left behind and request their deletion from the cafe.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio Sentinel is an Android app and does not protect a shared computer. On your own phone, Link check can test a portal link before you open it, and the password-exposure check shows a rough result about whether a password has appeared in known leaks without sending it anywhere. Safeavio cannot detect a keylogger on a cafe machine, so avoid sensitive logins there.

Full guide: Public Computer and Cyber Cafe Login Theft: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: social media, email, phone call.

Questions