Have you joined the revolution of people who have given up on sending checks and licking stamps to pay their bills? Do you have an e-bank account? Do you know the tricks on how you can bank safely and securely the e-bank way?
It is estimated that e-banking is growing by 15% every year and about 4 out of 10 households are all ready e-banking. Of course, you can see the benefits such as not having to write checks, no buying and licking stamps, no envelopes to address, and the ease of doing it in your home at any hour of the day. Yet, do you fear the big down side? Do you fear the thought of someone hacking into your system and do you fear that this could help lead someone stealing your identity?
This is a legitimate fear. There are a lot of dishonest people out there waiting for good people to make a mistake. But if don’t have to be a complete computer whiz to be able to e-bank safely. You just need to know the tricks or rather some simple e-banking safeguards such as:
Making sure you are dealing with a real internet bank.
Yes, there are phony banks out there on cyberspace waiting to take our money. They look like the real thing. How can you tell if they are?
First, you could deal with the well-known banks who do e-banking such as Wells Fargo or Bank of America.
Another option is to check with fdic.gov before you ever open an account with a bank to make sure that they are fully covered with FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). Real banks, even internet banks, are.
Choose a good password
You may all ready know these tips.
Make sure the password is at least 8 characters.
Use a mixture of numbers and letters (both upper and lower case)
You may also want to add punctuation marks
Never choose a real word. (There are no computer software programs that thieves can use to cover every word in the dictionary).
Bookmark your bank’s site
Why is bookmarking a good idea? The reason is simple; you could mistype it when typing the complete URL or you my click on the wrong site after a search. Again, hackers may have sites set up that look just like your bank’s site. The only exception may be a keystroke or two in the address, enough to fool you.
Never have your computer save your User Name and Password.
Yes, this makes your life easy. But you are also making it easy for anyone who may get on your computer (the neighbor’s kid, the nanny, a worker, or even someone who may steal your computer).
Don’t just log off once you are finished with your session, clear your history
If you don’t clear your history, it can be easier for someone else to find out your information.
Don’t do your banking at a Wi-Fi area
Make the time to do it at home.
If you do it where there is a wireless connection, a hacker and easily hook into your system.
Keep your computer protected
Have a good running firewall, antivirus and antispyware program. Keep these programs up to date.
Another good tip is to shred all unwanted or needed hard copies of papers that contain your bank account numbers or social security numbers.
Follow the above tips and soon you can enjoy the convenience of e-banking in a secure and safe way.
