Latest News! The Top Five Ways To Protect Yourself From Online Fraud
Susan
Littlegate has fallen victim to online fraud not once but twice. Last year in September her debit card was used in bank fraud transactions in Brazil, on the over
side of the world. Luckily her bank spotted the irregularity of the transaction
and cancelled it. The second time she experienced online fraud was simply whilst she was shopping online when her bank card
was refused. Upon checking her bank statement her balance had been wiped to
zero - her card had been 'cloned' and her bank account completely emptied.
After Susan's second experience of bank card online fraud it took well over a month for her bank to retrieve the money, resulting in finance charges for her unpaid mortgage and credit card payments. When such situations occur it can be devastating.
How would you manage a month with no access your bank funds?
Rise In
Online Bank Fraud
Online bank
fraud is on the up and incidents in 2008 alone totalled a staggering £52.5
million in the UK alone.
Nearly 15m
people in the UK use the internet for finance and banking services. The most
significant rise in online fraud is when criminals take over someone's bank
account through card ID theft with losses up by 39% in 2008.
Online Fraud
Tactics
Online fraudsters
are known to use a device called key logging.
They use software that tracks what you type in order to collect your bank passwords
and credit card details. These malicious computer software programs usually
find their way onto a computer once a user clicks on an unsolicited e-mail.
Another
fraud tactic is 'Phishing' where an email is sent pretending to be from your
bank asking you to click on a link which will then take you to a fake website
identical to your own bank site and ask you to confirm your personal bank
finance details.
In 2004 'Chip and
pin' bank cards were introduced by UK banks and proved to be successful
in lowering the amount of banking frauds but as online banking has
become
increasing popular, with consumers taking advantage of the chance to bank from
their armchairs, online bank fraud has started to rise again.
Protecting
Yourself
Despite the large number of internet users many have no idea what ways they can protect themselves online.
Here are
five online finance recommendations to help protect yourself against online
fraud: -
1
One
in four people do not carry out any checks to see whether a site is safe and
secure before carrying out a transaction.
It is essential that you stay vigilant and never relax your guard while
shopping online or carrying out financial transactions. Free anti fraud
software is available by McAfee to check whether a site is safe before you
click on it. Make sure your firewalls are always turned on and you antivirus
software is always kept up to date.
2
Always
make sure you log out of sites when you have finished your
shopping/transactions. If you stay logged in it means your financial details
are available to others.
3
Don't
open emails from people that you do not know. Do not click on a link especially
if it is in the email and it asks you for personal finance bank details. If you
have any doubts about the authenticity of the email do not respond. Beware of
emails which offer you a prize or a discount which requires you to choose a
user id and password (as many people use the same details for many bank accounts
and thieves will collect these details and try to use them). Any emails which have a sense of urgency or
ask you for personal finance or bank details be wary of.
4
It
is advised that you change your online bank password every 60 days. All sites
that you have an account with will let you easily change your password usually
by following a very simple and quick set of procedures. Changing your password
regularly will help limit the accounts exposure and misuse, meaning less danger
of online fraud. To make your password harder to guess use a mixture of upper
case, lower case and number (as long as you can remember it!).
5
Stay
in control of your money. The Eclipse prepaid MasterCard is a great way to do
just that. The Eclipse card is not a credit
card so you do not need to worry about debt or fraud and it is not debit card
so it is in no way linked to your online bank account. You are not able to
borrow money; you simply can only spend what you have loaded onto the card,
meaning you are completely
in
control of your money. As it is not
linked to your online bank account it means people will not be able to
fraudulently carry out any activities with your personal banking details. It
literally takes seconds to top up your card either using your phone, wire
transfer or online banking. You can also use cash to top up at the post office,
Paypoint or using a top up pack.
Anyone in
the UK who does fall victim of online fraud will have their money reimbursed as
long as they have acted with 'reasonable care' and not in a fraudulent manner.
If you do fall victim to online fraud there are many places where you can get
help and advice, including: -
http://www.eclipsecard.co.uk/eclipse_card/Online_security
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