If you’re like most people, you likely have received a questionable email or text that had the potential to be a scam. Scams have advanced in recent years, which can make it difficult to tell if an email, text, or call is real or fake. There are a few rules you need to know to protect yourself from fraudsters gaining your information.

Seasonal and Holiday Charity and Travel Scams

• A legitimate charity will welcome your donation whenever you choose to make it; whereas fraudsters will “pressure” you to make it right then.
• You should not send donations in the form of gift cards or wire transfers.
• Watch for travel deals that are too good to be true and know who you are booking your travel through.

Two-Factor Authentication Scams

As fraud controls get smarter, fraudsters are shifting their attack patterns to bypass controls. Fraudsters have been using automated phone calls to try to steal consumers two-factor authentication codes and hack into banking, merchant, and third-party payment accounts. These include Apple, Amazon, PayPal, and bank accounts.

An example of these calls state: “In order to secure your account, please enter the code we have sent your mobile device.” Financial institutions and valid merchants will ask you to enter this code on their website or app, not via text or automated phone call. A communication like this indicates the fraudster has tried to access an account and has run into a two-factor challenge from the merchant or institution. This call is an attempt to secure the code sent to a phone number or email on file at the merchant or institution. Usually something like the enter code that had has popped up on your phone. Once entered the automated message will say: “Thank you, your account has been secured and this request has been blocked.” Sometimes the call will say don’t worry about any payments or fees, we will refund it and then state, “you may now hang up.”

Scams like these require a hacker to already know several details about a you, such as email address, phone number, and passwords. Personal data like this often found on the dark web, collected from previous breached and hacks, sold by POS merchants to markets, or given out by you.

Phishing/Smishing Attacks

Phishing and smishing (phishing by SMS texts) are attempts to trick you into providing sensitive confidential information in order to perpetrate fraud. Its variants, and frequency, continue to be on the rise. Phishing schemes such as “spear-phishing,” which is more targeted and difficult to identify, are becoming even more sophisticated than in the past. Instead of using only suspicious links in poorly designed emails, phishing emails are mimicking website and appearing to be legitimate and credible. The use of web address shortening tools, such as TinyURL, make detection of suspicious links more difficult, even by savvy online users.

It is important to safeguard your financial data and online banking credentials against criminals trying to harvest them. Avoid clicking on links that appear in random emails and instant messages. Some phishing emails will start with “Dear Customer,” so be on the alert when you come across these emails. When in doubt, go directly to the source rather than clicking on a potentially dangerous link.

In general, you should never give out full card numbers, passwords (either to bank or merchant accounts), full social security numbers, or other sensitive information over the phone.

Securing Digital Devices

Avoid storing confidential card information in unencrypted format on digital devices unless it is stored using a Digital Wallet or secure password management application. Security concerns to keep in mind:

• Unencrypted card information on digital devices is susceptible to malware attacks.
  
  
• Sensitive information, such as PIN, Social Security number, or answer to security questions can also be stolen by way of malware and remote access application downloaded to a digital device.
  
  
• Choose reputable and secure applications to store passwords and other sensitive data on digital devices. Avoid installing applications from alternative online “stores” that are not reviewed for security prior to being published.

Protect your debit and credit cards with custom usage and access settings from the free CardValet^® app on your mobile device. Available for Apple and Android. Check this useful Quick Reference Guide to learn more about how to use CardValet^®.