The nation may be practicing social distancing, but scammers are not keeping their distance from the potential to take your money and obtain your personal information. It is important that you are aware of the possibility that fraud attempts may occur and also that you know what steps to take to keep your accounts safe by following these tips and best practices.
- Your financial institution will never call you to request that you send money, ask for account information or approve a transaction.
- Don’t provide your account number or personal information by email or text.
- Don’t trust caller ID; Caller ID may be modified to show your financial institution’s name.
- Don’t feel pressured to provide information immediately in response to requests via text, email or phone. Using their published phone number, reach out to your financial institution to confirm that the request is legitimate.
- Don’t give information over the phone if you receive a call stating that a transaction is canceled, even if the caller claims to be from your financial institution. Once again, contact your financial institution using a published phone number to inquire about the transaction.
- Don’t click on links from email or text from sources you don’t know.
- Don’t give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer.
Including these tips and best practices into your daily routine and by staying vigilant, you can reduce the possibility of becoming a victim of fraud.