PIX: How to use this feature safely?

There's no denying it: The PIX payment method is a hit. In October 2020, Brazil stood out worldwide by launching a new payment method, becoming  the first country to have a national electronic system for real-time and uninterrupted interbank financial transactions. There is nothing similar, not even in Europe, Asia, or North America. According to statistics from the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB, in its Brazilian acronym), more than 381 million keys have been registered and 1.2 billion transactions carried out up to December, 2021.

So much success is no wonder. The PIX payment system has made life much easier for citizens, who can now make transfers at a speed never seen before, from anywhere and at any time of the day, without having to pay any bank fees. It is no longer necessary to provide all kinds of bank data (branch number, account number, CPF, etc.) to make a transfer — you just need to know your PIX key, which can be an e-mail address or your telephone number. The money is immediately sent to the beneficiary's account, even faster than a favorite among Brazilians, the Electronic Available Transfer (Transferência Eletrônica Disponível or TED).

Obviously, it is not all roses. It didn't take long for cybercriminals to start finding ways to cheat people — especially Internet users and those less accustomed to new technologies — and to scam them using the new payment method. We have even witnessed a surge in sudden kidnappings motivated by the PIX payment system – which has made it much easier to violently threaten someone to immediately transfer their entire account balance.

Make a PIX transfer — safely!

Fortunately, there are some simple tips that can help you use the PIX payment with greater peace of mind. We will first discuss some digital protection measures, in order to avoid fraud and scams:

• Be careful with your keys. Although the PIX system allows you to use your CPF number, e-mail address, and even a telephone number to identify the transactions, it is good to remember that you should never make this information public or share it with strangers. So, prefer to use a random key — which, as its name suggests, is a random set of characters.

• Be careful with QR Codes. They are also a way of transferring money to someone via the PIX payment system — you just need to “read” the code and confirm the amount of the transaction, without having to bother typing the key. The thing is, many scammers create "fake” QR Codes, especially on web pages, to transfer money to their accounts without you realizing it. Always check the sender!

• Beware of suspicious links and e-mails that are supposedly notifications from your banking institution. No bank will send you an SMS asking you to confirm your password, threatening to block you from the PIX system. This type of message is nothing more and nothing less than the famous phishing, which tries to steal confidential information from inattentive Internet users.

And in the “real” world?

Noting the increase in the number of sudden kidnappings and robberies in which criminals force victims to transfer their entire bank balances via PIX, the BCB has obliged all financial institutions that adopted the system to implement security mechanisms to prevent this type of scheme. You can now configure your Internet Banking app to limit the amount of money that can be transferred in PIX transactions.

We wouldn't be able to prepare a full tutorial since each bank app has its own particularities. However, if you explore your bank app, you will certainly find the functionality to limit the PIX transfer amount, for example to a maximum of BRL 5,000 during the day, and BRL 1,000 at night. These changes in amounts need to be approved in advance and usually take up to 24 hours, which discourages criminals from taking action.

That said, here's the tip: Adjust these limits to your reality and financial routine. You should set a low limit, especially for nighttime transactions (which is even more important if you're a person who often leaves your house after sunset).

Article originally written in Portuguese by Perallis Security Content Team: PIX: como usar o recurso de forma segura? — Perallis Security