Safe Use of Online Banking

Online banking is always exposed to the dangers of hacking. However following security checks will reduce the risk of the online theft of your account information.

1. Install updated versions of anti-virus and anti-spyware programs and set them to automatically install the updates as and when they are available.
2. Make a habit of changing your pin regularly. It is always advisable to use PIN that is a combination of alphabets and numerical digits. Do not use PIN that gives reference to your personal information such as; date of birth, address, place of birth etc.; since they are easy to guess.
3. You should periodically reconcile your paper based statement received from your branch with your online statement and account balance and immediately notify and reason out the discrepancies, if any, with your bank.
4. It is very risky to use online banking on public computers. Never attempt that as your information may get stored in browser’s temporary memory and become easily accessible to those looking for it with malicious intent.
5. It is always advisable to shop online through credit card rather than debit card as credit cards have stronger personal liability claims than debit card.
6. While shopping online you should shop from websites you are familiar with, with whom you have been shopping online regularly. Avoid shopping from unknown websites as some of them are designed for stealing purpose. This is especially true of the websites that offer unrealistically huge discounts on their products.
7. Never reply to an email that is unsolicited. Do not open the attachments or click a link that is sent with such emails. Many times such emails will claim huge rewards for you so that you are lured into replying it, clicking a link on it or downloading the attachments with it, all can result in leakage of your confidential account information.
8. When you receive email from your bank dealing with your account information, do not reply to it until you confirm from your bank that it is sent through an authorized source. Scammers also try to trap you through sending emails that appear to be received from your own bank.
9. Do not share password or pin with anyone for any reason.
10. In case you feel your confidential information has been leaked on internet you must report it to the following institutions.
• Your Bank
• Federal Trade Commission http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtm
• Local Police
• Internet Crime Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
• Two major credit bureaus
Equifax http://www.equifax.com/home/en_us
Trans Union http://www.transunion.com/corporate/personal/fraudIdentityTheft/recoveringFraud.page