Are Banks and Card Issuers Doing Enough to Prevent Phishing of Credit Card Information

There has been increased online phishing activities targeting online bank account and credit card holders and if something is not done to prevent these theft activities, the consumers may be placed in a difficult situation. When card users’ information is compromised, it can be used to steal money from their bank accounts. However, despite the large amount of information provided on the internet, consumers still fall prey of these phishing activities.

The most commonly used tool is the email where users receive phishing emails that purport to have been sent by their banks or credit card issuers. The main question is; are banks and credit card issuers doing enough to protect their consumers?

Internet phishing

 

Although there is a lot of information on the internet about internet phishing and identify theft, it is important for banks and credit card issuers to dedicate themselves and provide continuous updates on security threats that consumers may face. The same emails that the phishers or thieves use can also be used by the banks and card issuers to disseminate useful information about security vulnerabilities the users are likely to get when using their cards.

Consumer needs to be constantly educated and kept updated of the latest developments on internet security threats. In addition, the companies need to provide a security information page on their website where users can always visit and read more on new developments. The card issuers and banks need to constantly remind their customers to log in their website and check any security notifications.

Card holders need to understand that they should not click any links that are send directly to their emails directing them to visit a site and enter their personal details like passwords, emails, name, date of birth, card numbers, PIN and any other confidential information. Today, internet thieves are using sophisticated ways to get personal information from card and bank account holders.

A common occurrence is where the phishers send spoofing emails, which have bank and credit card logo information. These emails look as though they come from the companies but this is not true. If you examine where the mails come from, you will find that they are send from a third party address that does not match the card issuer or bank address. The email may be that of the bank or card issuer but the origin of the message does not come from the bank or card issuer but from other funny web address. You should not just check the address of the sender but also the origin of the message i.e. “mailed-by”

In order to prevent these phishing and identity theft practises, card users are strongly advised to refrain from clicking on suspicious links in email messages. As a rule of thumb, banks and credit card issuers will not request for a card re-activation or any other personal information through an email link. Never click the link because it will lead you to a fake website that looks the same as that of the credit card company or bank.

When answering an email, you should not provide any personal information. In addition, you should not enter any personal information in a pop up page that comes on your screen or browser. Always ensure that the website of your credit card company or bank is encrypted with an SSL certification. To conform that the website is really encrypted with an SSL certificate, you need to look for the padlock, the green address bar or the “https” features when you enter your personal information.

It is recommended that you have antivirus software that is able to protect you from online phishing activity. Some of the free antivirus software offered do not provide advanced internet security protection on internet banking and online bank account and credit card access. Therefore, it is suggested that you source for an antivirus that can protect your online bank account and credit card use.