Reduce Fraud this Holiday Season with These Tips

Holiday Season Fraud Prevention

During the holiday season, consumers are more susceptible to various forms of fraud. The best way to reduce fraud is to understand red flags and stay a step ahead of scammer. The most common form of fraud found in the banking industry is a result of social engineering: this is when a fraudster impersonates your financial institution to trick you into sharing their account credentials, which are then later used for account takeover.

To protect against social engineering, we strongly recommend you stay on your toes, especially during the holiday season when there is an uptick in this type of fraud. You should always be aware and suspicious of phone calls, emails, texts or any communication received from someone you don’t know. Particularly if they want your personal information or money.

Top Tips to help Reduce Fraud:

1. Only call your financial institution via the phone number available on their public website.
2. Do not provide online banking log in credentials, one-time password, account number or personal information by email, text or phone call. Call the phone number on the back of your card or on the website if you would like to see if a request is legitimate.
3. Never give out information to callers requesting information. Your financial institution will never request personal information or pressure you to reset their online banking log in password. You should end the conversation with the scammer immediately.
4. Never click on links in unsolicited emails or texts. Phishing is when scammers send emails or text messages that appear to be from a reputable company and are not.
5. Do not respond to texts, calls or emails for one-time passcode authorizations that you did not request. Also, do not validate logins you did not request.
6. Never trust caller ID as caller ID may be modified to show your financial institution’s name.
7. Do not 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, you should contact your financial institution using a published phone number to inquire about the transaction.
8. Never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer.

Related: Avoiding Fraud During the Holidays – Top Tips to Stay Safe