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Banking Online   

A growing number of people are now handling their banking online which covers normal current and business accounts as well as control of credit and debit card spending.

Leading banks remain aware of the dangers faced by customers in using electronic banking and are continually adding to and improving their facilities to reduce risk of financial losses to both themselves and their customers.

The danger lurks is where you release sensitive access information to criminals OR they steal the information from you directly by accessing your computer which contains that information.

An increasingly popular criminal practice to gain access to a user's finances is phishing, whereby the user is in some way persuaded to hand over their login IDs and password(s) to a fraudster.

Lloyds TSB, one the UK's leading banks offers many of its customers a random security number generator device which supports traditional login ID and Password control, so users need 3 elements to access bank details. This facility has proven very reliable in use any may well be adopted by other banks.

The risk to you comes in several areas;

• you are fooled into giving login details to someone pretending to be connected with the bank. Banks never ask for customer login details and do not have access to passwords which are controlled electronically.
• you store the login details on your computer which is accessed remotely and read electronically whilst on line - all users should be protected by software supplied by leading international companies such as Symantec, Syphos etc. Avoid storing logins on your computer or code them.
• You give login details to other people who allow them in turn to be provided to others - keep your logins safe and known only to you.
• Logins are written down and thus open to preying eyes of strangers, thieves etc who may gain access. Avoid writing down login detail unless coded to act as reminder.

Best practices

• Avoid writing down logins and passwords except to act as reminders.
• Change passwords regularly especially if you use a common password for all accounts
• Invest in good quality spyware, spam and virus software from a leading supplier and maintain it up-to-date DAILY - new attack methods are being created constantly and even a few days without the latest protection can allow unauthorised access to your banking and card access data.
• Shred print outs or letters and notes which may contain sensitive data and keep other written records secure. Never dump paper work in trash which may be stolen and used to access your accounts.

For more information about how consumers and businesses can protect themselves against online fraud read the information published by the British banking industry 

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