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Online banking: How to stay safe

Jane Baker
by Lovemoney Staff Jane Baker on 20 January 2010  |  Comments 11 comments

If you bank online, follow these top tips to keep your money safe from fraudsters.

More people are using internet banking than ever before. In fact, this week Financial Fraud Action reported that the number of internet users who bank online has risen to 50% for the first time. That's around 22 million people!

With that in mind, I think now is a great time to take another look at how to protect your accounts from online fraud. Online banking is very secure, but you should still take precautions to keep your money safe.

Let's start off with some common online banking scams. After all, if you can recognise the signs of fraudulent activity, it will be easier to protect yourself.

Common online banking scams

Phishing

Phishing involves sending hoax emails which attempt to extract your bank details and personal security data. Often the sender will claim to be from your own bank and will ask you to verify your current account details by clicking on a link. But this link actually takes you through to a fake website which looks exactly like your bank's own site. Once you have inputted your details they are available to the fraudsters who set the fake site up.

Malware

Malware - or malicious software - is a computer virus which can be installed on your PC without you even realising it. Fraudsters will encourage you to open an email attachment, but in doing so you'll have unwittingly unleashed a Trojan virus which can monitor your PC activity, allowing fraudsters to steal your passwords and other personal information.

Money mules

Where the perpetrator is based abroad it can be very difficult to move the proceeds of fraudulent activity in the UK back to the perpetrator's country. This is where a money mule comes in.

Fraudsters usually make contact by email and try to persuade you to accept money into your bank account for a seemingly legitimate reason. You are then asked to wire the funds overseas, sometimes in return for a fee. Money mules can be prosecuted even if they weren't aware the transaction was illegal.

Top tips for protecting against online banking fraud

Now you've got a good idea of what typical online banking scams look like, let's take a look at the best ways of protecting yourself against them with these top tips:

  • Always install up-to-date anti-virus software and a firewall to protect your PC.
  • Always download the latest security updates for your system.
  • Always set your browser at the highest level of security notification.
  • Delete suspicious emails immediately.
  • Treat all emails claiming to be sent from your bank with caution, even if they appear legitimate.
  • Remember your bank will never ask for your login details or personal security data by email.
  • Never open an email attachment from an unknown source.
  • Don't open an attachment from someone you know unless you're expecting to receive it. Their PC could have been taken over without them knowing.
  • Scam emails often ask you to click a link which takes you through to a fake website. This may look identical to your bank's own website - don't fall for it.
  • If you think you might have received a scam email, report it to reports@banksafeonline.org.uk.
  • Only do online transactions where the URL in the address bar says 'https' and not just 'http'. The 's' stands for secure.
  • Never reveal your passwords or your PIN to anyone.
  • Never leave your PC unattended when you're logged into an online banking service.
  • Check your accounts regularly for suspicious activity. Alert your bank immediately if you come across a potentially fraudulent transaction. You can now monitor your accounts quickly and easily using the new lovemoney.com online banking service. More on this below.

A safe way to bank online

Our brand new online banking service is a great way of helping you to manage your money by keeping all your bank accounts and credit cards in one place, allowing you to keep track of your income and expenditure easily. In other words, the days of managing multiple account details are over. With our service everything is in one place, with one set of details.  

It also enables you to monitor your accounts frequently. That way you can spot any transactions you don't recognise quickly, and report fraudulent activity to your bank where it can be investigated. You can register for online banking at lovemoney.com today.

Note that no transactions can be made or money moved using lovemoney.com online banking. The service is designed to allow you to see where your money goes in a 'read-only' format. So it's a safe way to check what's going on with your accounts.

Of course, just as with your own bank, security is our number one priority too. You can find out how we protect your personal information by checking out the security FAQs.  But to sum up, to use the online banking service, you can register anonymously. We don't need your name or your address, just an email address. And we use the same levels of encryption to keep your data safe as banks and credit card companies. So why not check it out?

Finally, if you have any questions about online security or you would like to warn other lovemoney.com readers against an email scam you have come across, why not head over to Q&A? Or post a comment below.

And remember, this is a new service so we want your feedback.  

Register for online banking at lovemoney.com

More: 10 foolproof ways to avoid being scammed | Don't get caught out by this new fraud

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Comments (11)

  • LateDeveloper
    Love rating 20
    LateDeveloper said

    Don't use IE it is one of the worst browsers for security holes. Ask Google or Adobe + a number of other companies that were hacked last week using a security hole that MS has known about since last September. Account information was stolen in this attack.

    IE along with Google Chrome are about the worst browsers for security according to all the experts.

    Report on 23 January 2010  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • LastChip
    Love rating 64
    LastChip said

    On the whole, good solid advice from this article.

    However, there is some less sound advice in one or two of the comments.

    Please don't suggest security in Microsoft software is safe. Undoubtedly, it's more leaky than an open colander and if you believe anything less, you're just deluding yourself. When Microsoft can admit to a 17 year old bug (yes, you read that right), 17 years old, reported to them 7 months ago and they've failed to do anything about it, don't dream of trying to tell me it's secure. And that includes Windows 7!

    http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/scitech/microsoft-admits-to-17-year-old-bug-in-operating-system-100121

    To suggest smaller passwords are safer than longer ones, is simply outrageous. If I have a password that consists of two numbers (1 and 2), there are four possible combinations; 1,1; 2,2; 1,2; and 2,1. By adding a third number 3, I now have 1,1,1; 2,2,2; 3,3,3; 1,2,2; 1,2,3; etc. Clearly then, just one extra characture, makes the possible combinations far more difficult to crack. Don't take my word for it, just ask any security professional. Add into the equasion, charactures like &, ^, and $ for example, and you have the beginnings of a very secure password.

    Personally, I've used on-line banking for many years now (almost from it's inception) and so far, never had a problem. But I do use very secure passwords and being a Linux user, I wouldn't dream of accessing my accounts from anything in the Windows world. That's not to say you can't, but you are at a greater risk. However, you can mitigate that risk by taking sensible precautions.

    Report on 26 January 2010  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

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