Each year, criminals get more savvy with their scams to compromise bank accounts. Some scammers use technology to trick you into clicking bad links, downloading malware, or sharing login information.
Other scammers try to build a relationship with you. They may claim you’ve won a prize, received an unexpected inheritance, or have a “too-good-to-be-true" investment opportunity – but you must transfer them a large sum of money before you get the promised funds. Sadly, you’ll never see those funds.
Some people may feel angry, embarrassed, or afraid to admit when they’ve been tricked.
You shouldn’t feel bad that you’ve been targeted. Scammers are at an unfair advantage when it comes to manipulating unsuspecting individuals. They are often to gather enough information about you to seem VERY convincing.
If you think you’ve been a victim of financial fraud, here are the steps you can take to secure your accounts:
Report the Identity Theft: Report identity (ID) theft to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online at IdentityTheft.gov or by phone at 1-877-438-4338 and in this case, the IRS.
✅ Change Passwords: This is for email, banking, credit card, investments, etc. This is one of the most important things you can do to ensure the hacker can’t get control of any of your accounts.
It is essential that your new password is complex and totally unrelated to previous passwords. Always use at least 8-10 characters with a variety of upper and lower cases and throw in some symbols and numbers.
This is for internet banking, e-mail, investment accounts, credit cards, Amazon, etc. Any online accounts should be changed. The hackers will resell any information they have on you, so you can assume it will be used on any of your accounts
✅ Place a Fraud Alert and Consider a Credit Freeze on Your Credit Files: You should consider adding a 90-day fraud alert to your credit report. If you contact Experian, they'll share the fraud alert with Equifax and TransUnion.
This will flag any lenders or creditors to contact you before opening any new accounts. You can also freeze your credit files with Equifax, Experian, Innovis, TransUnion, and the National Consumer Telecommunications and Utilities Exchange for free.
Credit freezes prevent someone from applying for and getting approval for a credit account or utility services in your name. I have attached instructions and websites for a credit freeze to this email.
Here are the Credit Bureau Phone Numbers and Websites:
Experian.com/help
888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742)
TransUnion.com/credit-help
888-909-8872
Equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services
800-685-1111
✅ Let Your Trusted Vendors Know: Notify your bank, investment company, health insurance, auto insurance, creditors, etc. so they can flag your account and employ extra steps to verify any transactions
✅ Pay Attention to Your Billing Cycles: Thieves often change the address of your services (cable, phones, etc.) and then add services using your account. If the number of days between statements on a regularly recurring bill seems to take longer or if bills or financial statements are late, contact the sender.
✅ Review Your Credit Reports: Your credit report shows your bill payment history, current debt, and other financial information. Be certain that they don't include accounts that you have not opened. You can order it for free once a year from Annualcreditreport.com
✅ Let Your Email Contacts Know: A big part of the hacker’s strategy is to ‘get their claws’ into your address book to hook others as well. Send a message to all your email contacts as soon as possible so they know to avoid opening any emails (most likely loaded with malware) that have come from you.
✅ Change Your Security Questions: If you have security questions associated with your email account, please change these too. Try to make it unpredictable yet something you can remember (it doesn’t even need to be true).
It is possible that this was how the hackers initially broke into your account. If you have a security question associated with your account, create a response that makes no sense. This is the perfect opportunity to tell a lie
✅ Commit to Multi Factor Authentication: Yes, multi-factor authentication adds another step to your login but it also adds another layer of protection. Enabling this will mean that in addition to your password, you will need a special one-time use code to login. This is usually sent to your mobile phone.
✅ Check Your Email Settings: It is not uncommon for hackers to modify your email settings so that a copy of every email you receive is automatically forwarded to them. Not only can they monitor your logins for other websites, but they’ll keep a watchful eye over any particularly juicy personal information! So, check your mail forwarding settings to ensure no unexpected email addresses have been added.
Don’t forget to check your email signature to ensure that nothing spammy has been added. And ensure your ‘reply to’ email address is actually yours! Hackers have been known to create an email address here that looks similar to yours – when someone replies, it goes straight to their account, not yours!
✅ Scan Your Computer for Malware and Viruses: This is essential also. If you find anything, please ensure it is addressed and then change your email password again. And if you don’t have it – please invest.
✅ Change Any Accounts with the Same Password: Time consuming but very worthwhile! Ensure you change any other accounts that use the same username and password as your compromised email.
Hackers love the fact that many of us use the same logins for multiple accounts, so it is guaranteed they will try your info on other sites such as PayPal, Amazon, Netflix, Credit Card Info, Investment Info – you name it!
✅ Document Everything: Write down who you contacted and when. Keep copies of any letters you send.
If you are concerned about your Stone Bank accounts, or simply wish to meet with a Boulder Banker to discuss fraud prevention, you can contact our customer service at (833) 253-2265, email customerservice@stonebank.com, or visit your nearest branch location.
This information is for general education purposes only and not to be used as tax or legal advice. The opinions and recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Stone Bank. Stone Bank’s website may contain links to websites of other organizations that are no longer protected by our privacy policy or security practices. Stone Bank nor any of their employees assume any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of this information.