Bank account fraud

It refers to the unapproved bank transfers from the customer's account. Such transfer of funds may have been accomplished using identity theft. In such cases, people impersonating officials from banks or government departments try to contact and ask questions to procure the victim's details. 

Such callers indulge in lengthy conversations to gain credibility and encourage the target to divulge information that they can use to access their account or open a new account. Even if they do not ask for sensitive information, they can compromise the account using other information. 

For example, if they get the last four digits of the SSN, they can confirm their identity. Hence, one should reject unsolicited calls asking for any such details.   

How To Protect Yourself?

• Do not disclose your full name, address or bank details to unknown callers by phone or mail.

• Do not answer security questions over the phone. 

• Never reveal the full password or login details.

• Check all your bank statements carefully, and do not leave bills lying around. Destroy statements or documents, and if you move house, inform about it to the post.

• Get copies of credit reports to ensure each transaction is trustworthy, and notify the bank if you see any unusual activity on your card.