Online banking, direct deposits, and mobile apps have made managing bank accounts more accessible and convenient. However, along with that ease and convenience have come vulnerabilities.
Because some people are willing to work harder to steal than earn legitimately, hacking and online fraud have become big businesses. The FBI received an average of 1,300 complaints daily, totaling more than $3.5 billion in losses attributable to this activity. This trend coincides with a sharp uptick in identity theft, meaning it’s a good idea to learn how to keep your bank accounts secure from these people.
Passwords: Your First Line of Defense
- Anyone who spent time perusing social media had likely come across seemingly benign posts fishing for personal information.
- “Your childhood pet’s name and the street you live on are your porn name — what is it?” “Your date of birth, plus X = something amazing here; try it now!”
- Respond to enough of these, and a computer algorithm will devise a list of potential passwords to assault your accounts repeatedly until one works.
- Don’t respond to those posts.
Change is Good
How many passwords have been the same since you set up your first phone or online bank account years ago? You’re at risk if the answer is any—or all of them. Passwords should be changed quarterly and should be unknown, random, string numbers, letters (both upper- and lowercase), and special characters.
Every device you own capable of interacting with the internet should be password protected. Moreover, every account you have should be covered with a different password. Using the same one across all of your accounts means hackers only need to hit up one of them to gain the ability to get into everything.
Ask Me Again Please
Multi-factor authentication should be used whenever possible. This means the system will ask you to verify your identity using a second device or the second set of characters after you enter your password correctly.
Close the Door When You Leave
Always log out as soon as you’ve finished your business. Don’t just close the window and think that’s good enough.
Log out of the account.
Vigilance is Key
Most online banking apps offer the option to send notifications to your phone when there has been activity in your account. Set them up for the lowest notification threshold provided, even if it’s 1¢. Shady characters will sometimes go for a penny before they grab dollars. Review your account statements on at least a bi-weekly basis to ensure fraudulent activity is noted and reported as soon as possible.
Missing cards should be reported immediately. If you inadvertently leave a card at a store or restaurant, in a gas pump, or anywhere else, cancel it and request a new one, even if a Good Samaritan finds it and turns it in. Who knows what happened to that card while it was out of your possession?
Another essential thing to remember is ensuring all your accounts are up to date and paid in full. Act immediately if a debt collector contacts you to confirm they are legitimate. You want to take control of the situation. Outstanding debt can open your accounts to garnishment. You can learn more about your savings account’s vulnerability to debt collectors at FreedomDebtRelief.com.
Public WiFi is a Trap
Using public WiFi is asking to have it hijacked to access sensitive information, financial or otherwise. You have no control over who else shares that network and everyone has the password. Data you transmit and receive can be intercepted. Many financial institutions won’t allow you to access their systems using mobile networks.
Accessing your account from a computer over which you do not have absolute control is also a bad idea. In other words, don’t borrow another person’s computer to do banking. Everything you do on that machine can be recorded and saved for future access.
Sharing is Daring
Any request to share personal information should be viewed with suspicion, particularly when that request comes from someone who contacted you first.
Many identity thieves pose as customer service representatives. For example, “We’ve discovered some suspicious activity in your account,” or “Your last payment didn’t go through. Would you please verify some information for us so we can ensure your account is protected?”
They’ll then ask for your name, address, social security number, credit card number, etc. Sharing this information is daring someone to attack your accounts.
While we’re on the subject, sharing this information in an email or a text message also asks for your data stolen.
These bank account security tips will help you keep your financial data confidential. Yes, the advice here requires the sacrifice of a degree of convenience. However, it’s much less inconvenient than accessing your accounts only to find them completely drained.