How to protect you and your computer against fraud

This guide is designed to safeguard you against fraud when you are banking online. We have outlined some of the common pitfalls and threats and listed some important preventative measures to keep your personal banking details and your computer safe.

Online fraud
You must always keep your security details secret and take reasonable precautions to prevent the fraudulent use of your details. As soon as you suspect that your security number and password may not be secure, you must inform us.

Criminals are increasingly exploiting techniques such as “phishing” emails to obtain Internet banking security details. We hope the following explanations will help you understand the threats and help you safeguard yourself.

Phishing - this is the name given to the practice of sending out bogus e-mails that try to trick the people who receive them into revealing their passwords and security numbers.

What to look for
Unexpected e-mails which appear to come from your bank and urge you to use a link in the e-mail to visit a website. This website will contain a section that requests your full security details such as user name, access code and password.

To encourage you to select the link in the e-mail, the fraudsters will often use phrases such as “software update”, “ maintenance update” or “identity verification”. And then to try and get you to take immediate action they may also say that your account has been frozen or cancelled or that your access will expire in a few days.

Whatever you do, do not respond
Resist the temptation to reply or do what the e-mail is asking even if the message suggests that you may encounter problems with your account.

Remember, we will never send emails that ask for personal security information.

If you are suspicious about an email, delete it immediately without opening it.

Protecting your computer

Install and maintain Anti-virus software
Always use a reputable Anti-virus software package to help defend against threats such as computer viruses that can be used to compromise your computer or information in various ways. It’s essential to keep these up to date to detect the most recent threats.

Keep your computer software up to date
It’s quite common for security problems to be discovered in existing software. When this happens the supplier will usually issue an update known as a patch

Regularly check for patches for your Internet browser and email program so you can update your security against risks.

Three simple steps to protect you and your computer
1. Never divulge you access code or password
2. Never respond to an email that asks for confidential or
personal security information: we will never send you such
an email.
3. Ensure there is up to date Anti-virus and firewall software on any computer you use for Internet banking.

To find out more about our Internet banking products; NIC Accessbanking and MOVE online. Please call our help desk on Tel 2888217