Is it safe to bank on your phone? What to know about Telephone Banking Fraud. Banking on your phone has a certain air of insecurity about it. This is because we’re often warned not to give out sensitive information on your phone.
This isn’t just me, which is gratifying. According to Accenture research, only 50% of people trust their personal bank, and only 29% of people trust banks in general. High-profile data breaches and stories of consumers having their assets taken by criminals don’t make us feel any better about calling our bank – what exactly can we say or do?
Is it possible that we’re just being paranoid?
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Is it Safe to Bank on Your Phone?
I looked into the numbers to find out. They appear to be quite encouraging at first sight.
In 2015, CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service and leading provider of fraud statistics, discovered only 585 occurrences of employee fraud across 153 organizations. When compared to the overall fraud rate of more than 320,000 recorded incidents that year. That’s a small number considering the thousands of calls and other consumer contacts that big corporations deal with every week.
However, for a few reasons, this figure is a little misleading. To begin with, as Lydia Vye of CIFAS points out, their numbers for employee fraud are based only on cases of fraud discovered by the companies. In many cases of identity fraud, the perpetrator is never apprehended. So, there’s no way of knowing where the information they’re using came from.
Secondly, while CIFAS membership is rising, organizations that do not engage in the shared database scheme are typically less knowledgeable of what to look for. Also, how to dispute it when it is identified resulting in considerably higher instances of fraud.
When It isn’t You Who is Calling
Similarly, those estimates don’t take into account occasions where the risk comes from the individual making the contact. Such as when scammers gather enough information about us to try phoning and impersonating us.
Despite improved identity checking processes by banks, losses from this type of telephone banking fraud increased by 92 percent in 2015, to £32.3 million. This coincides with a 97 percent increase in the number of known cases, up from just under 5,800 to nearly 11,400, according to Financial Fraud Action UK figures.
Since then, numerous banks have begun to use speech recognition security measures, which should be able to identify us even if we forget all of our personal information and should be able to detect a fraudster regardless of their level of knowledge.
To put the numbers in context, banking by phone is likely to be safe in most circumstances, and it certainly does not appear to be the case in this case.
Telephone Banking Fraud (Is it Safe to Bank on your Phone?)
Scams involving telephone banking are getting increasingly popular. The fraudsters do not defraud their victims on the internet, but rather on the phone.
The following is how it works:
You get a call from someone claiming to be from a reputable organization, such as your bank or the police. They warn you that your bank account or payment cards have a safety or security issue, and you must take immediate preventative action. This usually entails confirming your personal login information.
However, the person on the other end of the line is a fraudster, not your bank or card issuer. You may also be requested to hand over your cards to a ‘bank’ or ‘police’ courier to ensure that they have been stopped or as evidence. This is referred to as ‘Courier Fraud.’
The Risk in Telephone Banking (Is it Safe to Bank on Your Phone?)
- You give scammers your account information and answers to security questions.
- Your bank account has been depleted, and/or your credit cards have been maxed out.
- You may become a victim of identity theft as a result of disclosing private financial and personal information.
How to Prevent Telephone Banking Fraud
- A bank or credit card firm will never urge you to transfer money from one account to another that you are unfamiliar with. So, hang up right away.
- If you believe the call is genuine and want to contact your bank or card issuer, call the number on your bank statement or other bank document or on the back of your card. Don’t call the number provided by the caller or the one from where you were contacted.
Never provide a caller your money or personal information; instead, call back on a number you know is legitimate. Many scammers might counterfeit legitimate phone numbers to deceive you into thinking they are genuine.
If you have been a victim of Telephone Banking Scam, kindly contact us immediately
- Call 0300 123 20 40 or go to www.actionfraud.police.uk to report it to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud reporting centre.
- If you’re in Scotland, dial 101 to reach Police Scotland.
- Notify your bank or payment card provider as soon as possible.
You can learn how to do so by visiting their websites. Also, try to get your country fraud reporting centre number and contact them immediately.
If you’ve been a victim of cybercrime, you can get free and confidential help from the organization Victim Support.
Is it Safer to Bank on Your Phone or Computer? We Consult Three Experts
Two-thirds of Americans access their accounts primarily through mobile or online banking. If you’re part of that demographic, you probably use your smartphone or computer to access your bank information.
However, both devices are attractive targets for internet fraudsters looking to get access to your accounts. Is it possible that banking on your phone or computer will protect you from fraud better than the other We posed the question to three experts in the field of security.
Kyle Marchini, Senior Analyst in Fraud Management at Javelin Strategy & Research, a Research-Based Advising Firm:
“I give bank apps on mobile devices the edge when it comes to security,” Marchini says. He claims that computers make it easier for hackers to mistakenly download viruses. For example, Malware keylogger programs could be deployed invisibly as part of a download from an insecure website.
Applications capture your keystrokes and transfer that information to a hacker when you input your login and password on a bank website. Users must actively accept to downloads from the device’s authorised app store when using mobile apps. According to Marchini, this makes it more difficult to download dangerous apps that can snoop on you while you’re banking.
A word of caution:
Don’t log into your bank account when using public Wi-Fi. You have no idea who has access to your network traffic or if they can see the information you send.
Marchini recommends using your cellular network for greater online banking security.
A Pro tip:
Instead of using your mobile browser, download your financial institution’s official app. It’s less likely that you’ll end up on a bogus bank site this way, according to Marchini.
Some bogus pages may appear to be legitimate, but they are actually phishing efforts by hackers to fool you into giving your passwords or other personal information. Also, use a screen lock. If your smartphone is stolen, others won’t be able to access your info.
Co-founder of Cybersecurity Business Casaba Security, Jason Glassberg
Glassberg explains that “either a computer or a smartphone could be appropriate depending on your location”. If you’re in a hotel or library and need to do some banking, he recommends utilizing your smartphone with cellular data rather than a public computer on an unfamiliar network.
However, if you’re at home and connected to a safe private network with anti-virus protection, you might want to use your computer. “Making a funds transfer on a large computer screen is likely to be much easier than on a small mobile device,” Glassberg explains.
A word of caution:
Regardless of the device, clicking on unexpected websites can cause problems. Links from unknown email or text sources should be treated with caution since they could be linked to malware or phishing scams.
A word of advice:
Avoid using digital banking on cell phones with modified operating systems such as Apple’s jailbroken devices and Android’s rooted devices. According to Glassberg, these cellphones have purposefully circumvented security to provide users access to programs that haven’t been approved by app shops.
Third-party programs may contain malware because security features have been disabled. They may be able to monitor your mobile phone behavior, including your usage of banking apps.
Certified Public Accountant Randal Wolverton, who is a member of the American Institute of CPAs’ Forensic and Litigation Services fraud task force
“I prefer to bank on PCs in a secure environment,” he says. This is because fraudsters may find cellphones more appealing to attack. Due to the fact that smartphones are always with you, they provide fraudsters with unique opportunity.
Someone could be peeking over her shoulder and guessing the password if a customer is standing in line at a grocery shop and decides to check her bank balance on her phone. According to Wolverton, this type of situation is unlikely to occur when banking at home on a computer.
A Word of Caution:
keep up with the latest computer security developments. Wolverton warns that your computer bank transactions could still be revealed if you don’t take precautions.
A word of advice:
Collaboration with your bank is a good idea. Sign up for fraud alerts and take advantage of two-factor authentication. You may work together to ensure that your accounts are safe and secure.
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