There are countless Internet scams out there, but you can reduce your chances of falling victim to one if you follow certain guidelines.
Although there is a plethora of cyberthreats on the Internet, knowing the most common ones is essential to keep alert and aim to avoid them. Below we analyse the most common online scams and give you some recommendations to reduce your chances of falling victim to one of them.
What are the most common online scams
Although there is a wide variety of online scams, these are the most frequent:
-
Phishing. This is a type of computer crime that features the attempt to fraudulently acquire confidential information, such as the password to your bank accounts or detailed information on your credit cards. The cybercriminal impersonates a bank or a company and, abusing the user’s trust, asks them for their account password or card PIN number.
-
Smishing. This is a variant on phishing where the fraudsters try to impersonate a bank, company or institution using SMS. Generally, the message asks the victim to call a special billing number or access a link to a fake website using a false pretext. If the recipients opens the link, the cybercriminal may infect their device or access sensitive information.
-
Vishing. The aim here is to steal the victim’s bank data or make financial transactions. This is a phone scam in which the criminal calls and pretends to be from a company, organisation or trustworthy person in order to obtain personal and sensitive information from the victim. In these calls, the victim is sometimes informed of a transaction and they are requested to download an application to authorise it or they are informed of attempted fraudulent operations and requested to make a transfer to keep their money safe.
Important: remember that Banco Sabadell will never request confidential data from you by text message, email or phone call, nor will we request that you transfer your funds to a secure account.
This may interest you: Check out the new online fraud attacks
How to avoid online scams
Each of us can take certain actions to enhance our level of security and avoid falling victim to an online scam. Some of the more important are:
-
Periodically updating your card PIN and password to access your remote banking. Regularly change your passwords and use a different one for each of your accounts, making sure they are as strong as possible (for example, creating passwords at least 8 digits long that include upper and lower-case letters, numbers and special characters). Remember never to physically write down the passwords anywhere or share them with anyone.
-
Never give out your username or password. Never share your passwords with anyone else to prevent them from being compromised. Banco Sabadell will never ask you for this information. For this reason, do not share any password or confidential data, such as transaction keys or card details (PIN, CVV or numbering), even if the sending party identifies itself as Banco Sabadell.
-
Keep a close eye on your security. Always check the information on the most recent login to your online banking on the Banco Sabadell website. Remember to always use email in secure mode and distrust those emails that come from unfamiliar sites or those containing incoherent information. Also avoid entering your passwords and or opening a session in your online banking on public computers.
-
Always keep your devices updated. Keep both your mobile phone’s operating system and apps updated. Also remember not to install apps from unknown sources and use official and certified sites, such as Google Play Store or the App Store. Install an antivirus program on your computer and your mobile phone.
- Always browse on secure websites. When using the Internet, make sure that the websites you connect to are: https:// and not http://. Look carefully at the address and if it begins with https, it will have a padlock. When you click on the padlock, check that the address is written properly.
If you have any queries, Banco Sabadell has a customer service team at your disposal 24x7 on 963 085 000.
Photography by Magnet.me on Unplash