Steps to follow for safer banking

From ATM scams such as “shoulder surfing”, card skimming, identity theft, credit card fraud and phishing, criminals have a range of ways to defraud and rob bank account holders.

Mr Zane Renou, a chief commercial officer, offered the following steps to keep yourself safe from criminal scams and schemes.

•  When you choose a pin or password for your debit and credit cards, as well as services such as online or mobile banking, make sure it is something that no one else will be able to guess. Do not choose a predictable sequence such as 0000 or 1234, or a personal detail anyone could guess such as your date of birth or the name of your child. Memorise your user names, pins and passwords. Do not write them down. Be careful of keeping a written record of your pins in your wallet with your cards. Always cover the keypad when typing your pin in at an ATM or point of sale machine. Never share it with anyone. Do not choose the same pin for all of your cards.
•  As soon as you are aware that one of your cards is missing, report it to the bank and cancel it. If you are really fast, you might be able to prevent the thief from transacting with it. Save your bank’s emergency stop-card number on your phone.
•  Your card is a potential gateway to your bank account for a thief, so treat it as carefully as you would a big wad of cash. Do not let a card out of your sight when you are making a payment and double-check you have received your own card back at the end of a transaction.
•  Regularly check your account statements carefully so that you can dispute any suspicious transactions with your bank. Subscribe to your bank’s Sms notification services, so that you will be alerted about every transaction carried out on your account.
•  For identity thieves, your address, bank account or card number, identity number and full name are all they need to get going. They will use this information to impersonate you so they can borrow money in your name or access your accounts. Do not send your credit card details in emails, destroy your credit card receipts and old bank account statements before you throw them out, be careful of who you give copies of documents such as municipal bills, identity documents, passports and payslips.
•  Your bank will never phone or email you to ask for personal information such as your online banking password or your credit card number. Delete emails you receive asking for such information and do not follow the instructions they give to click through to a website and change your password. They will take you to a site run by a fraudster with the sole purpose of collecting online banking account passwords and log-ins.
•  Ensure you access internet and mobile banking only through your own, or trusted devices, and avoid using PCs or devices that could be exposed to fraudsters and viruses like keyboard sniffers and recorders. Also ensure you install a reputable anti-virus software package on your PCs and devices to manage these and related risks.

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