By Malcolm and John Harding
“My bank account has been hacked!” Is a frantic report that we hear far too often at Compu-Home. The huge convenience of online banking takes a major hit when security is compromised and large amounts of money are at stake. Unfortunately, months or years of trouble-free transactions can lull us into a false sense of being fully protected even though there are precautions that we have failed to set up.
It is worth noting that a successful hack of your account is not necessarily as a result of ignorance or negligence on your part, but the possibility that it was the bank’s own security that was broken is moot. It is unlikely that the bank will admit to being at fault, and wherever the fault lies you will probably have to make a police report, a sworn and notarized statement and a scan of your computer(s). Furthermore, don’t assume that your financial institution will always reimburse you for the amount that was stolen; compensation seems to be decided case-by-case.
Here are some suggestions to keep your bank account safe.
First: do not allow your web browser to save your bank account numbers or passwords. It is bothersome to have to type this information at every login, but if you are duped someday by a smooth-talking hacker on the telephone who wants to “address security issues on your computer,” you will be very relieved that your financial credentials are not visible and ready for him to pounce on.
Second: bite the bullet and set up multi-factor identification. It is inconvenient to have to wait for a code to be sent via text and/or email, but it is a small price to pay to prevent the loss of thousands of dollars. The caveat here is that you must record and keep your coordinates up-to-date, because if you change your phone number or email address and do not update that information in the multi-factor security system you risk a mountain of wasted time and frustration.
Finally: Don’t overlook the system of alerts that most financial institutions have built into their online banking. For example: in order for an Interac eTransfer to be sent to someone, that person has to be registered as a payee in your account. Some banks allow you to set up an email and/or text message notification whenever a new payee is added. This would be an obvious alarm if you receive such a message when you had not added that name.
Other alerts that may be useful include when a password is changed, or when an unsuccessful login has been attempted. Sometimes you can even be alerted every time there has been a login to your account. All of these are over and above the multi-factor identification system mentioned above. Institutions vary in whether they offer alerts and what kinds of alerts they offer. but it is certainly time well spent having a look through the enhanced security options that are available to you.
We are always glad to try to help, but we hope that you are never in a situation that you have to call us with this kind of problem.
Contact Compu-Home at 613-731-5954 to discuss this column, share your opinions and suggest future columns. Our email address is info@compu-home.com and our website, including our blog, is www.compu-home.com
Malcolm and John Harding are members of the Compu-Home team.