THE banking industry has warned people to be on the look out for a new wave of cyber-crime targeting online bank accounts.
Many people use the internet to keep track of their UK accounts as well as buy goods and items online.
But APACS, the banking payment association, has launched a new website to inform people of what to look out for and so protect their account.
The range of tricks used by criminals includes emails masquerading as official bank messages, to software that sits on people’s PCs logging keystrokes.
Their Bank Safe Online site has a range of information and advice that includes:
* Treat EVERY unsolicited e-mail with caution and never click on links from or reply to such e-mails
* Install anti-virus software, keep it up-to-date and run regular security scans
* Install and learn how to use a personal firewall
* Install the latest security updates, also known as patches
Many banks and online services provide an email address that you can send suspicious messages to so they can track down the criminals behind them.
And if you log into your account make sure it is by typing it into the address bar of your web browser and never from a link within an email message.
Visit the Bank Safe Online site.