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As the use of virus attacks to target online bank accounts by cyber criminals increase, it is important that online banking customers know how to protect their accounts from malicious programs such as viruses and trojan attacks. Only recently there was a report about a ‘trojan’ virus which was described as ‘the most sophisticated and dangerous malware program ever created’ by security experts. Like other online attacks, the program operated discretely by secretly emptying customer accounts while showing them fake statements so that the scam was undetected.
However, the following measures can be taken to ensure that your computer remains secured so that online transactions can be made in a safe and secure environment.
- Keep your firewalls set to the highest level of security possible.
- Ensure that your anti-virus software is operational and up to date.
- Never open an e-mail attachment from people you do not know and scan with anti-virus, if you must.
- Never double-click on an e-mail attachment that ends in .exe as this denotes that the file is an ‘executable’ file which has the potential of harming your computer.
- If you suspect that you are already a victim of an Internet banking scam, contact your bank immediately. Banks will normally reimburse genuine victims of online banking fraud.
Talking Point
Can you suggest other ways to stay safe online?