Citadel Offers Tips to Increase Your Cybersecurity

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Image via Citadel.

By Citadel

As technology advances, you can be sure that identity thieves are not far behind. Here are some common methods cyberthieves use to steal your personal information and how you can increase your security.

Credential Stuffing

Credential stuffing is a cybercrime tactic in which criminals use login credentials that were previously exposed due to prior security events/breaches at organizations like Yahoo, Facebook, Door Dash, etc. The cybercriminals create a computer script with the list of exposed credentials and ultimately attempt to gain access to a website such as Online Banking.

What can I do?

Cybercriminals are aware that consumers regularly use the same usernames and passwords for many of their online logins. To be safe, consider changing your passwords on all accounts and avoid repeating the same password for different logins. Citadel recommends making passwords as unique and complex as possible.

Review our Online and Mobile Banking Security FAQs for additional ways to protect your information.

Phishing/vishing

Your email messages may not be quite what they appear to be if you’re targeted by a phishing scam. Phishing is the act of sending fraudulent emails that seem to come from familiar businesses. These messages contain links to phony websites designed to steal personal information either directly or through malware and keyloggers. Often you’ll see a problem referenced with a request to click on the link provided to correct it. Once you’ve entered your information, ID thieves can access your accounts.

Vishing is the telephone version of phishing. Callers are sometimes bold enough to suggest the victim call back to verify authenticity. But the vishers don’t actually hang up; instead they play a recorded dial tone to make the victim believe he’s making a call.

Targeted Social Media Scams

Over the past few years, social media financial scams of multiple varieties have become more frequent. In fact, Citadel members have been targets of social media scams, and this scamming continues to occur across multiple regions and involves a variety of financial institutions.

One of the most common types of social media scams is when an individual is asked to surrender personal information in order to provide access to their bank account(s). The fraudsters tell the victim they will deposit money into their accounts, then deposit fraudulent checks via ATMs. These scams are sometimes positioned as “work from home” opportunities to make money.

Citadel offers tips to avoid Social Media scams:

  1. Legitimate businesses or employers will not ask for your account information. Never allow another individual to use your account or have access to your account information. These folks may promise you’ll make money, but ultimately, their promises are fraudulent, so refrain from answering suspicious requests via social media.
  2. If information is shared, you can be held responsible. When account or personal information is willingly shared with another individual, the victim can face monetary losses, civil action, and possible criminal charges.
  3. Keep your information as secure as possible. To keep your accounts safe from other types of fraud or scams, create strong passwords/PINs, keep your cards secure, and report suspicious activity to Citadel immediately.
  4. Download Citadel Card Control: Citadel Card Control allows you to set controls and manage your Citadel debit and credit cards from a centralized location with the Mobile Banking App. Learn more here.
  5. Sign up for account alerts: Citadel offers account alerts and eAlerts through Online and Mobile Banking to help members monitor spending behaviors, fraudulent activity, and more.
  6. Consider purchasing ID Theft services: Consider signing up for credit file monitoring and identity theft protection through a trusted party. Learn More about how to protect yourself against Identify Theft through Citadel.

Additional tips to protect yourself

To even further reduce fraud risk:

  • Install the latest editions of antispyware, antivirus, firewalls and browsers to all devices, and password-protect them.
  • Use strong passwords for all accounts and change them frequently.
  • Monitor accounts and credit reports to detect fraud early.
  • Don’t use public Wi-Fi networks for financial transactions.
  • Keep cards away from public view, and shred personal documents before discarding.
  • Opt in for two-factor authentication on all online accounts where possible.
  • Turn off bluetooth and near field communication when not in use.
  • Never share sensitive information with unsolicited callers or email senders.
  • To verify calls, hang up for at least one minute to insure the first call is disconnected.

Staying informed and adopting smart fraud prevention practices will go a long way toward protecting your identity. Between your efforts and Citadel’s security offerings, you should be able to stay a step ahead of identity thieves.

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