Now that we all do more online than ever before, we need to be more vigilant about our security efforts. We have seen a spike in fraud and scams during the pandemic. The bad guys never miss an opportunity to take advantage of a disaster.
Tool #1: Keep login information private
One common crime is account takeover and it usually starts online. The criminal gets access to your login credentials and logs in pretending to be you. Sometimes they make changes to your contact information and sometimes they leave it, but in either case the aim is the same – pretending to be you to access your money and move it out of your account and into theirs.
The first tool to prevent this type of crime is you. You control the amount of information that is available about you online. Make sure you review privacy settings for all your social sites and that the information you are posting online doesn’t give the criminals information they could use to pretend to be you.
Tool #2: Update your operating system
The second tool is your actual device. Make sure your device has the latest version of the operating system with timely security update and virus protection. We’ve seen too many instances of members who didn’t keep up with device security and ended up with a key logger recording their every key stroke including usernames and passwords.
Tool #3: Set up alerts & dual factor authentication
The third set of tools are found in the sites you visit. Our digital banking system has tools you can use to make the experience safer. For example, instant alerts by text or email of a login (Settings è Notifications). One of the most powerful tools available is Two-Factor Authentication where you receive a text with a code in order to complete the login process. Basically, you have to have the device in your possession to log in so even if a criminal knows your username and password, they are missing the final component (In the desktop version go to Settings è Security tab and set to require for desktop logins).
I encourage you to make sure you use all of the tools at your disposal to make your online experience as safe as possible.
Post author: Jamieson Mackay, CCUFC
The opinions expressed on this page are for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal or financial advice. The views expressed are those of the author of the article and may not reflect the views of the credit union.