There’s no sugarcoating it: Fraud is on the rise. FTC data shows consumers lost more than $12.5 billion in 2024 — a startling 25% increase over the prior year. This fraud can take many forms, but it’s clear that the banking sector and bank customers are targets. A 2023 Regula survey found that 94% of banks reported fraud incidents, with an average loss of over $310,000. And that’s the average; many were costlier than that.
Given these troubling numbers, what can you do to stay ahead of the scammers, hackers and criminals to avoid bank impersonation and help keep your finances secure?
What Is Bank Impersonation?
Bad actors have numerous avenues for impersonating you and withdrawing money from one or more of your accounts. Some are complex, such as skilled hackers in a different country using sophisticated tools to crack your online banking password and access your account. Others are simple, such as somebody you know and trust observing you entering your PIN code at an ATM or password online, and using that information to steal your money.
Even stealing your bank card and PIN code and walking into a bank to take your money is a form of impersonation. We shouldn’t think of this kind of fraud as somebody dressing up like you to access a bank vault, like in a heist movie. How fraud and impersonation work today is more mundane, but potentially more devastating. What can you do?
Tips To Avoid Bank Fraud
Here are some steps you can take to minimize the chances of unauthorized individuals accessing your bank accounts:
- Practice good password hygiene: It’s imperative to use a strong password, not an important date to you or full words or sentences. Use a long string of letters, numbers and punctuation and write it down on a piece of paper and store it in a safe and discreet place. And change it regularly, perhaps every year or two. The same goes for your PIN code.
- Be careful with whom you share your information: Many couples share their banking passwords and PINs with one another. Beyond that or maybe adult children, there’s really nobody else with whom you should share this info.
- Keep your devices safe: If you use online banking or an app, make sure to safeguard your devices. Don’t leave them alone at a cafe or on the seat of your car. Furthermore, always use passwords or biometrics for your devices and don’t stay signed in on the banking app or website.
- Allow notifications: By allowing push notifications and/or emails from your bank, you can receive alerts about suspicious activity quickly. This can be crucial to stopping fraudsters before they take all your money.
- Be suspicious: If somebody from your bank calls you, they will clearly identify themselves, and they will not be offended if you don’t feel comfortable discussing your banking with them. Scammers talk fast and try to make their victims feel insecure. There’s never anything wrong with saying you’d feel more comfortable coming into the bank to discuss the matter.
Vectra Bank prioritizes the security of our customers. If you have any concerns about fraud, or anything else, you can contact a Vectra Bank professional.
