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?
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| 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.
Phishing is scamming method used by internet intruders to steal personal information from you mainly through emails. Whereas some of the emails intended to steal information from you may be easily detected as spam, nowadays, these hackers have become smart and you cannot easily detect some of the emails they send. The reason why online bank account holders or credit card holders are targeted is because once your personal information is stolen, the scammers can use it to log into your online bank account and steal money from it.
One thing that banks will not do is to tell you to activate your account through emails. In addition, banks don’t request for personal information through emails. If you already have a bank account and an online banking access, then you are always advised to log into the secure website of the online account and log in from there. You should never click on email links that are mainly provided by these scammers.
What these scammers do is that they send you information purporting to originate from a bank or credit card issuer where you have an account and then ask you to activate or provide your details. They may claim that your account has been suspended and you need to log in and confirm your personal details in order to uplift the suspension. NEVER click on any links you suspect that they are from hackers.
One thing that makes the email phishing difficult to detect is that it may bear the logo and address of the bank or credit card issuer. In addition, the emails may resemble other genuine emails you have received from your bank. The best way you can protect yourself from these intruders is to learn how to identify phishing emails.
You need to check where the email was sent from or the e-mailer. You need to check the section “mailed by”. The email may be from the bank or credit card web email address but not sent by the bank or credit card company. If the message is not mailed by the bank or card issuer, and it appears to have originated from another address, then you should ignore it and delete it immediately.
Another way you may detect a phishing attempt from an email is to check on forged links. The scammers will try to use a link that is very similar to that of the bank account or credit card issuer. You need to roll over your mouse on the link and see if it identical to the one on the email without clicking on it. In most cases, if the link does not begin with “https” it means that it is not secure. If when you roll the mouse over the link and you cannot get the address, you may “copy link location” and paste it on the web search tab. This way, you will determine whether it is genuine link or not. NEVER click on the link. Almost all bank websites will begin with “https”.
Moreover, if you get an email that requires you to provide your personal information, you should ignore. Once you have provided your personal information during your account registration, your bank will never ask you to provide the same again through an email. This is because that information can be intercepted online and stolen.
In addition, when you see that you are required to follow a link and log in to provide your details, then it means that the “phishers” want to steal your log in details. Even when you click on the link, you may be directed to a page that looks the same as the bank account log in website page. Another way you may detect a phishing email is the urgency of the message. The email may be sent twice or thrice meaning that there is a pressing request to provide your information. You need to ignore that email and filter it from your address.
