Modern-day devices like your mobile phone and personal computer make banking from anywhere more accessible than ever before. You can be on your sofa, relaxing with a football game on TV, and whip out your phone to check your finances on an app. You can be out at a coffee shop, writing a report for a client, and switch tabs to see any updates to your account. Online and mobile banking has many advantages, from check depositing to paying bills.
While you’re enjoying the benefits of banking from the comforts of relaxation, keeping account security and protection from fraud is important. Cybercriminals are a growing threat, and that threat is always trying to breach your information for a quick buck, employing more complex methods to steal your account details.
The FBI estimated that approximately 2200 cybercrimes happened every day in 2020, bringing the yearly total to nearly 800,000, an increase of over 300,000 from the previous year. The FTC also received 2.8 million fraud reports in 2021.
These kinds of scams take a variety of forms, from fake emails asking to confirm your account details to spyware that infects your computer and steals your information, to malware on public wifi access combing through your data, the modern-day scammer can use a myriad of techniques to attempt to gain access to your account. Given the array of techniques available to scammers and hackers, keeping yourself safe is more important than ever.
Taking steps to keep your info secure is important. We’ll quickly run through a few tips to keep yourself safe, but stay tuned for a further deep dive into these and more to keep your TVFCU account safe.
Use Unique Passwords for Every Account and Change them Frequently
Having a strong password is a truth as old as the internet itself. However, using the same one for every account on the web creates a major flaw. If a hacker, scammer or fraudster finds out one password, they gain access to your whole online presence. Frequently altering your passwords ensures that if one is compromised, a hacker can’t lie in wait and use the info later, while you think your account is safe.
Use Two-Factor Authentication
Sometimes even the strongest passwords can’t fully protect you against a determined hacker using brute force techniques to gain access to your account, and that’s where Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) comes in. 2FA requires both your password and a second authentication, like a text message, call, or email authenticator to log in to your account. This would prevent someone with just your password from gaining access.
Use Caution While on Public Wi-Fi
When you’re on public Wi-Fi, hackers can access your login details while your device is trying to talk to the server hosting the website you’re logging in to. General browsing and reading blogs and articles should be fine, but signing in to a website that isn’t SSL-encrypted can open you up to a breach by a hacker.
Make sure to check the URL of any websites you want to log in to while on public wifi, and only enter passwords on sites you recognize and that have SSL encryption! Additionally, while you’re out and about, your mobile data is usually well-encrypted. If you have mobile data to spare in your plan, use some of it!
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