On Line Banking Scams
“Online banking is a danger.”
During the past 10 years, Online Banking has become one of the fastest-growing services on the Internet. Approximately 43% of the U.S. population or around 63 million people regularly conduct their business in this way.
This growing popularity has also brought increased anxiety over whether something as private and personal as a bank account can be protected in the almost unregulated and un policed Internet world.
Phishing scams abound and some start when people open an email made to look like a message from their bank asking for confirmation of log in details and account numbers, those who reply only discover that it was a scam after someone empties their account.
How the scams work
Among the most popular are phishing schemes that duplicate bank Web sites and ask customers to log on to their accounts. Others send e-mails, purportedly from bank employees, asking for sensitive financial information. Often the two work in tandem, with an e-mail containing a link that directs recipients to a cloned bank site. Both scams are designed to steal a user ID and password as a customer types them in, giving a cyber thief access to the person’s financial accounts.
Other cyber thieves embed viruses, spyware or “Trojan horses” — programs that can give thieves unauthorized access to a computer by recording and sending out a user’s keystrokes. These programs allow thieves to look over your virtual shoulder as you type in sensitive financial information. Within seconds, your savings and checking accounts, or even your investments, could disappear.
It is estimated that, about $3.2 billion was lost to phishing attacks in 2007, with about 3.6 million people losing money.
It’s a huge business and the scammers are literally making millions, and they can be based anywhere in the world and the attacks are increasing.
The Sinowal Trojan, is a virus that injects what seem like legitimate pages on someone’s browser, then steals the user’s log-in credentials. This virus has compromised 300,000 online bank accounts and about 250,000 credit and debit card accounts over the past three years,with more than 100,000 online bank accounts hit in the past six months alone.
There are thousands more Trojans out there, many of them specifically targeting online banking customers.
Protect yourself
1. When logging on to a bank Web site, look closely at the site’s URL to make sure it matches the bank’s name. A more secure URL will begin with “https://” and is followed by the bank name and also make sure the bank’s padlock is displayed in a corner of the site before you log on.
2. Log on to banks only from a secure computer. Never log on from a public computer in a hotel or internet cafe, and be careful when logging on to unknown networks with a laptop.
3. If you get a warning e-mail, call your bank — don’t click on any provided links.
4. If your computer is acting strangely — for instance, reacting slowly or getting regular pop-ups -do a full Virus and Anti Trojan scan and avoid using it for online banking until you get it fully checked out.
5. Keep anti-virus and anti-spyware software up to date.
6. Install and maintain a firewall.
7. Never respond to any e-mail that requests personal information.
9. ALWAYS, use a different user name and password for each financial account. The password should be complex, with numbers and symbols, and changed regularly.
Even after you have done this, remember that there are still no guarantees.
BANKS NEVER ASK ON LINE FOR PASSWORDS