In April this year, the CBN issued a fraud alert to the public about the alarming rate of cybercrime activities in the country. Since covid19 started, these fraudulent activities have been on the increase, which have resulted to making the scammers have unauthorized access to people's account and defrauding them of their hard-earned money.

So, below are 5 simple but useful ways that can help secure our bank accounts from internet scammers:

1. Never disclose sensitive information to anyone:
With increasing cases of account hacking, banks have now devised a two-step verification to provide more efficient security to customers' bank details. Yet, these scammers still masquerade themselves in appealing forms to get access to these details, and this they do through phone calls, SMS, mail or in person, while claiming bank representative. To avoid this, the rule is simple - NEVER DISCLOSE your OTP, ATM Card no, Pins, ATM password, etc to them. These information are yours alone & not shareable.

2. Avoid the use of unsecured internet access:
As many of us like free things, especially free internet access, never perform sensitive financial transactions using public WiFi. Also, avoid visiting unsecured sites (those links without secured "https". Scammers now use this avenue to illegally gain access into your account details. Messages displaying "click this link to earn so so packages" are developed by them for unconscious & greedy individuals.

3. Inspect the ATMachine before use:
Scammers now visit some ATMs to install "skimmer" into the card aperture. This skimmer has the ability to read & capture data on ATM cards when slotted into the machine. This data can now be used to produce a "dummy ATM card" that would not only have exact features like yours but would be usable to perform any transaction like your original card. With this, your account isn't safe anymore. So, before inserting your ATM card into the machine, make effort to check for marks, scratches or any unusual sign at the mouth of the card inlet compartment. If you notice anything unusual, leave the machine & report to the bank.

4. Check your balance regularly:
Always go through your transactions & make sure your balance correlates with what you've received or withdrawn. For the joint account holders, both account owners should engage in the monitoring. Though banks send SMS alerts on every transaction but a better way of monitoring balances is through the bank app. This bank app can be gotten from the bank itself or downloadable on Google Play store (apps here are secure & safe to use). Don't collect your bank app from friends or anybody.

5. Be vigilant:
Vigilance here revolves around everything that have to do with your bank accounts. And being vigilant should not be restricted to only the "outsiders", even some "insiders" are not to be trusted. Cases abound where a family member connives with scammers to strike. So, all information should be kept & restricted to the only the trusted individuals or close relatives/associates.

Lately, banks are now quite efficient in detecting suspicious activities on their customers' accounts but they are not always perfect, the more reason you the account owner should be more careful. For this reason, you should be conscious of any happenings in your bank account and if any shady activity is noticed, do well to promptly report to your bank.

Kindly add yours too...

Don't save sensitive info about your account on your phone. A guy lost close to 5m to fraudsters,after he misplaced his phone few days ago. All his details were in the lost phone...

Nigga is still in the hospital right now..

DoubleEngine007:
Don't save sensitive info about your account on your phone. A guy lost close to 5m to fraudsters,after he misplaced his phone few days ago. All his details were in the lost phone...

Nigga is still in the hospital right now..

Thanx for this tip Double Engine. I once heard too that leaving SMS of account balance isn't advisable

Omoalhaja77:


Thanx for this tip Double Engine. I once heard too that leaving SMS of account balance isn't advisable

Yes,most especially when traveling.. Blessed morning to you bro..

DoubleEngine007:
Yes,most especially when traveling.. Blessed morning to you bro..

... & u too, bro