As the holiday season draws near, Filipinos are expected to once again spend more money as they buy presents and prepare for their get-togethers and celebrations. This culture of gift giving has always fueled one of the happiest peaks of the year, and has undoubtedly carved its way into the hearts of many families, loved ones, and friends. However, with the rising number of purchases and transactions, the holiday season has also become a prime time for criminals to do their worst.
Just this August, the government signed Republic Act No. 11449 into law, proclaiming that bank hacking is now a heinous crime punishable by life imprisonment, with a fine of up to PhP 5 million. In support of this act, PSBank shares timely tips to ensure that your hard-earned funds are always well protected.
1. Do not click on links in suspicious emails. One of the common methods hackers use — sometimes through “special offer” messages — to gain access to your account is through phishing. Fraudsters will send a message asking you to click on a link to the bank’s supposed website, which prompts you to provide your username and password.
It’s easy to tell if it’s not from a legitimate page. Usually, the URL will contain a misspelling, like “http://www.psbnak.com.ph/.” Always check the link to ensure that you significantly lessen your personal risk.
2. Never give your personal account information over the phone. An updated variation of the method above is called vishing, or voice phishing. In these instances, the potential thieves will call and pretend to be official representatives, and ask for your bank details. It’s important to remember that financial institutions will never ask for your account number, PIN, or CVV code.
3. Lock your ATM card and utilize Cardless Withdrawal. Lines at ATMs are expected to be longer in the last two months of the year, so scammers are expected to take advantage of this. A potential occurrence in dubious areas, skimmers usually install a device that will capture your personal information when you insert your card into the ATM.
With PSBank Cardless Withdrawal, you can safely withdraw money even without your physical ATM card. On the other hand, with the PSBank ATM Lock your card becomes useless should it falls into the wrong hands. All you need to do is activate the ATM Lock feature through PSBank Online or PSBank Mobile app. Using these services actively will lessen the risk of you being victimized by skimming.
4. Update and use the official bank app. For the best kind of security, stick to the official app since it will be always be reinforced with tighter security protocols, lessening the power of virtual attackers. Aside from having top-level security, PSBank’s mobile platform offers a wide range of services which will make your holiday transactions super convenient — including quick account views, money transfers using PaSend and PayMe, Mobile Check Deposits, and more.
“The holiday season is the favorite season of fraudsters and hackers as they join the frenzy of email blasts, text messages, and calls about ‘Christmas promos’ and ‘SALE items.’ We always encourage our clients to stay vigilant in securing their login information and to expect more phishing attempts to avoid from their emails and their phones. Although PSBank has implemented multiple layers of security to protect our clients, we are but just half of the security equation,” says PSBank First Vice President and CISO Dan Duplito.
“A simple security awareness by our clients goes a long way into securing their own online bank accounts and will allow them to focus more on holiday moments that matter most to them, such as spending worry-free time with their loved ones,” he further reinforces.
Be Aware! is PSBank’s consumer protection campaign that provides clients with the necessary information to protect them and their hard-earned savings against scams.