Cyber-attacks are more and more common every day as businesses scramble to get their systems up to date, but sometimes these attacks get a bit more personal and go straight to the source, the clients, and that makes them even harder to stop, as regular consumers do not usually have the know-how and the wherewithal to detect a cyber scam. The last large scale case has been happening to Bank of America clients and the financial institution has issued a warning to all their customers to try to prevent any major losses.
If you fall victim to a cyber scam, you might be able to recoup some of your lost funds through insurance or criminal prosecution, but this will not solve your biggest problem, which is that a criminal organization now has enough data on you to wreck your credit and steal your identity. And just because you filed a claim or a police report it does not mean that the headache is over, as scammers are the hardest criminals to find and prosecute and it is even harder when the crimes are online.
Old time scams were dangerous enough, but now with the availability of technology and the ease of learning how to code, cyber scammers can change their pone numbers to replicate the branch’s number, impersonate an employee or a government official, and because more information of ours is out there than ever before, it is a lot easier to fall pray to these tactics.
The recommendations from Bank of America to avoid falling prey to a cyber scam
Bank of America warns customers that this latest attack involves a person being contacted through various mediums like emails, text messages, or phone calls and claiming that there is an urgent issue with the bank account that needs to be resolved immediately. All communications from these criminals are accompanied by links or attachments which, when opened, automatically install malware on the device, fully infecting it and giving hackers total control.
As a result, cybercriminals can:
- Access your bank accounts and make transfers.
- Steal financial and personal information, like third-party account numbers and passwords.
- Install programs that harm other people.
- Use the stolen information to extort the victim.
Despite the sophistication of these new scams, the ways to prevent them continue to be the same ones that they have always been, do not share personal information with anyone, especially over the phone and even more pressing when you are not the one making the phone call. Should you fear that you account is indeed in trouble, do not click any links form any text message or email, open your own browser and look for the correct URL, then check that it is spelled correctly.
Calling the helpline of your bank is always a good way to report these fraudsters, epically if you have any information about them that you can share with the security officers at the bank. Preventive measures are almost as important as what you do after the fact, so have multiple layers of security on your device, such as facial recognition or fingerprint ID and also make sure to keep your software and antivirus programs up to date.
You can also set up notifications for every activity in your bank account. You can receive email alerts for every transaction, purchase, or transfer, which not only keeps you informed about what is happening in your accounts, but also helps you keep track of your incoming and outgoing funds and allows you to make instant reports should you notice any suspicious activity.
And last but not least, remember you need to change your passwords regularly to a more secure version and not have the same password across multiple accounts, as this is the fastest way to get hacked.