Financial Matters: Security Concerns

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WVBT) - What do you do if you get an email from your bank claiming your account will be closed if you don't reply with sensitive information like your username, password and account number?

Mark Wilson, Business Integration Manager with BayPort Credit Union has the answer and fills us in on some of the new ways cyber-criminals are attacking consumers.

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1. Phishing - Phishing is a means of obtaining personal information from people through the use of illicit email messages. Fake emails that look like they come from major financial institutions and online retailers such as Amazon or PayPal are sent to thousands of email addresses at a time. These messages look real; they use the logos and other branding information to make you believe that the email is real. The messages usually tell you that your account will be closed unless you update your username, password or account number. Too many people are tricked into providing sensitive information for fear that access to their accounts will be terminated.
People should know that their financial institutions and retailers will never send a message asking for this type of information to be provided through email. You have a couple of options when it comes to suspicious emails. First, you can forward them to the security division of the supposed company represented in the email. There is a lot of information about the origination of the email that can be picked out of details embedded in the email message. Second, you call the company and ask them if they sent the email. In both cases, you will want to delete the email and not reply at all.

2. Smishing - This is a term that not a lot of people are familiar with. It's very similar to phishing but it involves Text Messages. Test messaging is quickly becoming the method of choice for communicating quickly. Smishing messages usually require your immediate attention indicating that your account has been suspended, asking you to either click on a link, send your ATM PIN or social security number back in text message or call a specified phone number. Thieves use this information to create duplicate ATM or debit cards. I've read about a case where information based on a fake text message was used to create a debit card halfway around the world and used to withdraw funds within 30 minutes of the response to the message.

You should always be weary of unexpected text messages.

3. Online Privacy - keeping your personal information safe online is an ongoing issue. Websites like Facebook and Google+ are going to great lengths to provide security settings that allow people to only share information with their close friends. Be sure to visit the security sections of any social website to make sure that your information is visible to only those people you know.