Banking fraud has been spreading across the globe, spurred by internet banking and the rise in sophisticated hacking syndicates. If you have ever lost money to fraudsters, you will be very aware how the experience can be painful. Across the globe, thousands of people lose their savings every day.
The internet has proven to a boon for technology, but it comes with it's challenges. An integrated world makes it easy for criminals to steal money and move it from one jurisdiction to the other. And virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, make it easy to launder the proceeds of crime.
Fortunately, there are a number of steps that you can take to protect yourself in this challenging world. The following is how to keep yourself safe from bank fraud;
Don't fall prey to phishing
Most people become victims of bank fraud after falling prey to phishing. Phishing is when someone reaches out to you via email claiming that your long lost Aunt in the happy kingdom of Bhutan has passed away, leaving you millions.
Never mind that you don't even know where Bhutan is. You are told that to inherit this amount, you need to first provide them with your banking details.
Should you come across such emails, you should immediately flee for dear life. Never hand out your banking details over the internet. If anything appears too good to be true, it's probably simply too good to be true. Nobody is going to hand over money to you for free; not in this day and age.
Change your password every now and again
This is another way through which you can protect yourself from banking fraud. If you have signed up for online banking, you should ensure that you change the password every so often. Doing so ensures that people who may have gotten hold of the password are not able to hijack your account.
Sign up for SMS alerts
Almost all banks around the world now offer the SMS alerts feature. How it works is that the moment a particular transaction is carried out on your account, you get notified via SMS. Most banks also have the option to send out notifications via email and on their apps.
If you are in South Africa, check out the post on how to get SMS notifications from Capitec. Wherever you may be, this feature is absolutely essential. If you get notified that money has been withdrawn from your account, and if it's not you who has carried out the transaction, then you will need to quickly notify your bank to get your account frozen.
Have daily spending limits on your account
This is another option for those looking for protection while banking on and offline. Having a spending limit means it will be impossible for anybody who hijacks your account to use up all your money. Let's say you have USD 50000 in your account, yet your spending limit is USD 500.
It means you will only potentially lose the 500 that's withdrawn on the first day. Should you have signed up for SMS notifications, you will then be able to move to block your card and account. So, this is another layer of protection that you can add when banking.
Do online banking from secure computers
Most people around the world now engage in online banking. That brings the convenience of being able to make transfer, make payments and much more without having to visit an actual store or bank.
The challenge with online banking is that it can be a point of vulnerability. That's particularly the case if you are doing from unsecured computers.
What you need to do to assure your safety is to make sure that all your computers are protected from viruses. There are many antivirus programs out there. We use the native Windows Security. Also make sure that your computer is up to date. Updates are often released to plug off security vulnerabilities.
