Three Simple Steps to Protect Yourself From Cyber Fraud
TRUE STORY: In late December, we were working with a client to send her regular year-end distribution. On Christmas Eve, we received an add-on response to our email chain asking that we send funds to a new bank account. As this seemed odd, and even though the email address matched our records, we followed our protocols, picked up the telephone to confirm – and averted what could have been a very unpleasant holiday surprise.
Someone had learned our client’s email password, was monitoring her email for financial related terms, then secretly stepped in only after they saw our email exchange discussing how much money was to be transferred.
Cyber fraud of ever-increasing sophistication will continue to be a major issue in 2021. We polled Parkside employees to determine what measures each of us takes to protect our own online identities. Following are our top three identity theft prevention ideas.
1. Use a Password Manager
While it is nice to think that each of us will have a unique 24-character password containing letters, numbers and characters for each website that we use, the reality is that most people have only one or a few simple passwords. Furthermore, these passwords are either memorized (when simple enough) or written down on a piece (or multiple pieces) of paper that are rarely around when needed.
A password manager is a mobile app that stores user names and passwords in an encrypted manner. For those of us that typically have our phones within close proximity at all times, the password manager is a secure and convenient way to both store and retrieve passwords with just a few taps on your phone.
When you create the passwords, we suggest that as the confidentiality of information contained on the website increases, the complexity of your password increases and how often you may reuse the password decreases. While people shy away from complex and multiple passwords because they are afraid the password will be forgotten, using a password manager to store user names and passwords should eliminate this worry. 1. Use a Password Manager
While it is nice to think that each of us will have a unique 24-character password containing letters, numbers and characters for each website that we use, the reality is that most people have only one or a few simple passwords. Furthermore, these passwords are either memorized (when simple enough) or written down on a piece (or multiple pieces) of paper that are rarely around when needed.
A password manager is a mobile app that stores user names and passwords in an encrypted manner. For those of us that typically have our phones within close proximity at all times, the password manager is a secure and convenient way to both store and retrieve passwords with just a few taps on your phone.
When you create the passwords, we suggest that as the confidentiality of information contained on the website increases, the complexity of your password increases and how often you may reuse the password decreases. While people shy away from complex and multiple passwords because they are afraid the password will be forgotten, using a password manager to store user names and passwords should eliminate this worry.
2. Use a Credit Monitoring Service
We strongly recommend subscribing to a credit monitoring service. These services monitor your personal information, including social security number, and notify you by text, phone, email or mobile app when potential threats are detected and help resolve any issues should a breach occur.
While credit-monitoring services only notify you after the fact if your identity has been compromised, learning about it quickly should limit the severity of any fraud attack.
LifeLock, IdentityForce, or Identity Guard are all good credit monitoring services. Plans range from $10 to $35 per month depending upon the number of bells and whistles offered. Most Parkside employees use one of the premium tiers offered by Lifelock.
If you want to take credit monitoring one step further, you can also put a freeze on your credit with the three main credit rating agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), but this may also delay your ability to open a new account when a credit check is required.
3. Set Up Notifications of Large Financial Transactions/Funds Leaving an Account
Nearly every bank, investment firm and credit card company offers a feature that sends you a text, email, or mobile app notification when funds leave your account or a charge occurs on your credit/debit card.
To set up this monitoring feature, you will need to log onto your bank/investment firm/credit card company’s website. Typically, under the user profile section, there will be an alerts/notifications/ settings feature. We recommend that you choose to be notified anytime a certain dollar amount leaves your account or is charged to your credit card. These notifications are typically sent within minutes of the transaction occurring.
As for choosing what dollar amount is the appropriate minimum threshold to be notified, make sure you pick a high enough amount that you do not receive so many notifications that you begin to ignore them, but pick a low enough amount so you are still notified of large transactions.
Other security features that financial services firms also provide include voice recognition, facial recognition and dual authentication. Depending upon how often you use the phone/website/mobile app, you may also want to activate these add-on features.
Written by Chris Engelman, Managing Director