Beware The Online Banking Fraudsters, Cyber Criminals Want Your Account!

Cyber Crime & Bank Fraud – Personal & Business Identity Theft

You are probably one of the millions of customers who use online banking every month to check their account balances, make payments and manage direct debits, but are you managing this safely and securely?

What happens if you become a target for cyber criminals? Will you get any help from your bank?

A Scary Scenario for Any Banking Customer.

Recently a NatWest banking customer found point of sale transactions totalling £7,450 had been taken from his account, all on the same day, after he became a victim of online fraudsters.

It all happened after he logged into his online account. He went thought he standard procedure of logging in to the secure NatWest homepage, entering his 10 digit ID number, three random numbers from his Pin and three random numbers from his password to access his online account.

Believing he was now on the secure NatWest website, when he was requested to entered his full Pin number (highly unusual) he did so. Unfortunately, the website he was on, which seemed identical to the real NatWest site, turned out to be fraudulent.

Rule: Never trust a link given in an email.
Always use the link provided by your bank when logging into your account (save it as a bookmark).

Two days later he was horrified to discover six transactions, each over £1,000, a total of £7,450, had been taken from his account using the banks overdraft facility.

• On the NatWest website, it claims: ‘We’re always on the guard against fraud – which is why we might contact you if we spot a suspicious transaction on your account.

So why didn’t the bank spot this suspicious activity? This was a highly unusual set of transactions and the first time the overdraft facility had been used for many years.

What is Suspicious Activity

‘So what is “suspicious” activity? Although banks will not share their suspicious activity checklists they generally look out for unusual patterns. That could mean transactions which are higher than the average on your account, or spending in countries which have been linked to fraud in the past.

• Surely six unusual transactions, each over £1,000, on the same day constitutes suspicious?

The Banks Response!

NatWest quizzed him about accessing his online banking account and told him that by following that extra request and putting in his Pin he had provided personal information online and fallen victim to a phishing’ e-mail or malware’ virus.

• Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication (email). [wikipedia]
• Malware, short for malicious software, is software used to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems. It can appear in the form of code, scripts, active content, and other software. ‘Malware’ is a general term used to refer to a variety of forms of hostile or intrusive software. [wikipedia]

The customer told the bank he did not follow an email link to his account, has virus protection on his home PC which has a firewall and real-time scanner, regularly updated and is scanned three times a week for viruses.

As NatWest insists it is the customes fault and will not reimburse him, he has taken his complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) which currently has an adjudicator investigating.

 

—– IMAGE: Safety message Taken from NatWest website -619-98.jpg

 

What is Financial Malware? How Can Online Banking Customers Protect Themselves?

Gangs of fraudsters are using sophisticated financial malware virus to target online banking customers. It is a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry and a serious headache to banks.

Fraudsters target banking customers like you and me, rather than financial institutions directly because the average home user’s system is less secure than systems protecting banks.

Phishing e-mails are among the most common causes of online banking fraud. These can include not just emails but pop-ups on websites which infect the user with financial malware.

The majority of British banks offer Rapport software because standard anti-virus software doesn’t notice sophisticated financial malware, with 60 to 70 per cent of this type of virus remaining undetected.

• The virus works by sitting in the background of a computer which is then triggered when an unsuspecting victim logs into a financial website.

It often then directs bank customers to an official looking web page in a different browser and takes the details as they type them in often pin numbers and passwords.

The UK is a big target because of instant clearing. When the money is taken out of an account, it happens straight away. In other countries, like the US for example, there is a 48 hour delay, which gives banks a longer window to be able to stop the fraud.

Beware the Online Banking Fraudsters, Cyber Criminals Want Your Account Conclusion

Under the payment service directive it states “Where a transaction is found to be unauthorised, the PSP has an obligation to immediately refund the amount of the transaction and, where applicable, restore the account to the state it would have been in had the transaction not happened.”

Rule: Never trust a link given in an email or website. Always use the link provided by your bank when logging into your account (save it as a bookmark).

Rule: Never divulge you pin number to anyone, even bank staff, they should never ask.

Rule: Keep your data SAFE.

Rule: Think before you click!

My Wife believes in the old style banking a saving book where one has to visit a branch save and withdraw money it’s safe and sound and one gets to sleep well (so she believes).

Well, I hope you found something useful and enjoyed, Beware The Online Banking Fraudsters, Cyber Criminals Want Your Account!.