Now that you’re back in the swing of things as fall rounds the corner, you are probably starting to get back into old routines. Kids are back in school and work is heating up again after summer vacation and the last Labor Day beach or pool parties are now past.
But now that fall is rounding its head with cooler weather and the reality that lazy days of summer are past, you might want to rethink a couple of things specifically when it comes to keeping your identity safe online.
Today, a very real and present danger is giving away enough information where scammers will steal not only your identity but also drain your bank accounts. I want to walk through a few easy habits to get yourself into so that you ensure your accounts are safe and sound and your identity is far out of reach of prying criminal minds.
More and more now than ever before, our financial information and transactions being handled online, staying aware and focused on protecting your data will assuredly help protect your money from scamming forces.
Unlike the witches and goblins popping up later in October, scammers are completely real. Here are some habit changers you might want to consider doing to keep your pocket book safe in 2019 and beyond:
Your Login—Protecting your login might seem like one of the most basic things to do for banking security, but most of us don’t take it seriously enough. Remember the following:
- Have a unique password for each bank account
- Make sure your password is complex, meaning it is a combination of letters, numbers and characters (the longer it is, the harder it is to crack). For some tips on passwords see my post from a couple of years ago (basics still ring true today!)
- Consider opting for two-step authentication (if your bank doesn’t text you as you log in, consider asking about this or other ways they ensure who you are when you log in)
- Remember that easier passwords are probably easier to steal! The same goes for those security questions. If you are using easy to find information (like your cat’s name that is visible on Facebook or Instagram or your birth city), the questions will easily be bypassed.
- Consider changing your password routinely. This might be tedious but especially if you’ve learned of a breach at your institution or in the banking community—which has happened more and more in recent years—I would immediately change passwords. As a rule of thumb, consider changing your password quarterly (at worst, annually).
Be Conscious Of Where You Connect—Before you automatically start entering your credentials into the login screen, make sure you’re at the right site. Does the website have an https:// (scammers have been known to spoof websites and replace an shttp:// or create common typo’d URLs that land on a near identical page as your bank’s to steal your credentials). When it comes to making sure your banking session is completely secure, consider these tips:
- Consider not banking on open or public WiFi networks. A lot of times, hackers are sniffing for passwords on WiFi networks. It is not unheard of someone redirecting traffic at a coffee shop and stealing all of the information going across the connection, including banking data.
- Avoid hotel logins, too. For a similar reason, when traveling consider using your phone’s wireless data to connect for banking to make sure that no one else is looking at your activity while online. Hackers nowadays can render screenshots of all of your online activity.
- Double check the URL to be certain you are where you think you are. You’d be surprised how often scammers steal from bank accounts simply by getting your credentials on a ‘cloned’ site.
- Consider banking without multiple browser windows or tabs open to eliminate your risk of having something malicious open on your machine.
Watch What You Email—One thing that we have to start getting used to when in the digital world is avoiding sending too much information via email. One of the big hitters is your Social Security number. If anyone needs that information, consider giving them your sensitive information in person to avoid getting scammed.
Streamline Your Inbox—Make a special point of checking for any information that might have sensitive banking information in your inbox. You might have recently reset a password, mistakenly shared sensitive data through email, including your SSN or bank account numbers. Maintain a clean mailbox by deleting and emptying your trash so if your email gets compromised (note: this happens quite a bit in 2019), your accounts will still be secure.
Keep a Clean Machine—make sure that when online banking, your security software (antivirus), web browser and operating system are all up to date. Hackers are targeting under-protected machines and will stay dormant until you start working on things perceived as valuable (like online banking). I know that updates can seem annoying, but when you get an alert on your toolbar that updates are available, you will be much better off if you allow them to update than keep running your machine unprotected.
Consider NOT Clicking—You certainly have some sense in you (or you wouldn’t be reading this article). When in doubt when online, opt out of clicking. If a pop-up appears on a website, or a Facebook sponsored link seems phishy, or an email seems a little odd, it probably is. Use that common sense and error towards not taking any action.
Evaluate What You Share—the more you share to the world on social media and other websites, the more scammers have to work with when trying to validate your identification to hack into or social engineer their way into your bank accounts. That being said, the fewer pictures and true information you have online, the better off you will be. Consider making up birthdates on social media accounts, limiting exposure to your personal life, or at very least taking audit of what is out online about you so that you are aware where your personal vulnerabilities lie when it comes to identity theft.
Enable Bank Account Alerts—I recommend doing this for ALL of your accounts. Set a low threshold for money withdrawals and make sure your accounts alert you to those changes on your account. Err on getting alerts for important changes (password and name changes) as well. The quicker you know, the better off your accounts will be!
Routinely Perform Bank Account Check-Ins—I recommend at minimum logging in to your accounts monthly to make sure that everything looks normal. Schedule a little time every month to evaluate your accounts on a secure home network to make sure everything is the way you expect it.
I want you all to be safe online and have secure bank accounts where you can grow your wealth! My advice to you all—pick at three of the behaviors I list here (if you have been neglecting your banking security) and stick to them. The securer your account, the less likely you’ll be the low hanging fruit ready for a hacker to pick!
