From ATM scams such as shoulder surfing and card skimming, to identity theft, credit card fraud and phishing, criminals have dreamed up a range of ingenious ways of defrauding and robbing bank account holders.
Here are a few ways to keep yourself safe from criminal scams and schemes, says Zane Renou, chief commercial officer at Cellfind.
PINs and passwords
When you’re choosing a PIN or password for your debit and credit cards as well as services such as online or mobile banking, make sure it’s something that no one else will be able to guess. For example, don’t choose a predictable sequence such as 0000 or 1234, or a personal detail anyone could guess such as your date of birth or the name of your child.
Memorise your user names, PINs and passwords, and don’t write them down. Be especially careful of, for example, keeping a written record of your PINs in your wallet along with your cards. Always cover the keypad when typing your PIN in an ATM or point of sale machine, and never share it with anyone. Don’t choose the same PIN for all of your cards – that way, your other cards will be safe even if one is stolen.
Report lost or stolen cards
As soon as you’re aware that one of your cards is missing, report it to the bank and cancel it. If you’re really fast, you might even be able to prevent the thief from transacting with it at all. Save your bank’s emergency stop-card number on your phone.
Treat your cards like cash
Your card is a potential gateway to your bank account for a thief, so treat it as carefully as you would a big wad of cash. Don’t let a card out of your sight when you’re making a payment and double-check you’ve received your own card back at the end of a transaction.
Use SMS notifications and statements to stay one step ahead
Regularly check your account statements very carefully so that you can dispute any suspicious transactions with your bank. Even better, subscribe to your bank’s SMS notification services, so that you’ll be alerted about every transaction carried out on your account.
Treat personal identifiable data like classified information
For identity thieves, a few slivers of information – your address, your bank account or card number, ID number, full name – are all they need to get going. They’ll use this information to impersonate you so they can borrow money in your name or access your accounts. For that reason, you can’t be too careful with personal information.
Some precautions you can take:
* Don’t send your credit card details in e-mails.
* Destroy your credit card receipts and old bank account statements before you throw them out.
* Be careful of who you give copies of documents such as municipal bills, ID documents, passports and payslips.
Beware of scam phone calls and e-mails
Your bank will never phone or email you to ask for personal information such as your online banking password or your credit card number. Hang up if someone calls you asking for this information; immediately delete any e-mails you receive asking for such information and do not follow the instructions they give to click through to a website and change your password.
Invariably, they’ll take you to a site run by a fraudster with the sole purpose of collecting online banking account passwords and log-ins.
Accessing Internet- or mobile banking
Ensure you access Internet- and Mobile Banking only through your own or trusted devices and avoid using PCs or devices that could be exposed to fraudsters and viruses like keyboard sniffers and recorders. Also ensure you install a reputable anti-virus software package on your PCs and devices to manage these and related risks.
