Banking online is convenient and usually safe. However, wherever scams and fraud can be committed, dishonest persons will certainly seek out those ways. In order to be safe when banking online, you need to keep abreast of the most recent scams and what to look out for.

Types of scams

❒ Phishing: This is the name given to the practice of sending emails at random claiming to come from a genuine company operating on the Internet, in an attempt to trick customers of that company into disclosing information at a bogus website operated by fraudsters. These emails usually claim that it is necessary to "update" or "verify" your customer account information and they urge people to click on a link from the email which takes them to the bogus website. Any information entered on the bogus website will be captured by the criminals for their own fraudulent purposes.

How can I prevent myself being a victim of phishing?

The key thing is to be suspicious of all unsolicited or unexpected emails you receive, even if they appear to originate from a trusted source. Although your bank may contact you by email, they will never ask you to reconfirm your login or security password information by clicking on a link in an email and visiting a web site. Stop to think about how your bank normally communicates with you and never disclose your password in full or personal information.

❒ Trojans: take their name from the term 'Trojan Horse' and are a type of computer virus, which can be installed on your computer without you realising. Trojans can be capable of installing a "keystroke logger", which captures all of the keystrokes entered into a computer keyboard. Some specifically seek to capture passwords entered at certain websites, by capturing keystrokes or taking screen shots of sites you visit. This information is then sent to the fraudsters over the Internet.

Typically the fraudsters send out emails at random to get people to click on a link from the email and visit a malicious web site where vulnerabilities in the web browser are exploited to install the Trojan. The emails are not normally related to Internet banking and try and trick people into visiting clicking on the link to the malicious website with a variety of excuses.

Firewalls, up to date antivirus software and anti-spyware programmes, all provide the best defence from Trojans so it is important you use these to protect your computer.

How can I prevent myself from being infected by a Trojan?

Currently, most Trojans take advantage of vulnerabilities in the Internet Explorer browser used to access the World Wide Web. To protect against these vulnerabilities, if you use Internet Explorer, you should ensure that you are using the latest version of the software and it is essential that you download all of the Internet Explorer critical updates.

Just as you protect your house with locks on windows and doors and maybe also a burglar alarm, it is essential that you protect your computer by using up to date anti-virus software, doing regular scans of your computer to check for viruses, installing a personal firewall and also the latest security updates for your web browser and operating system.

Treat all unsolicited emails (especially those from unknown senders) with caution and never click on links from such emails to visit unknown websites. Install and learn how to use a personal firewall and install the latest security updates, also known as patches.

Source:

banksafeonline.org.uk