Cybercriminals or hackers don’t have a specific group of people they target. They don’t gather data or attack only larger businesses or companies. Cybercriminals have no limit and will choose anyone they want to gather the information they need for their own good. Therefore, no one is safe.
Since hackers don’t simply choose only a certain group of people, this makes everyone vulnerable. But often some will not believe in this and won’t know that they have already been a victim until it’s too late. It’s always better to be on alert and ready if this event happens.
If you are a victim of this crime, it’s normal to be scared, but doing nothing is not the solution. Instead, if you know that something wrong is going on, then it’s time to take some actions to stop this event.
But before knowing what to do let us figure out what are the signs that your bank account has been hacked.
Unauthorized Transactions
If you don’t often check your bank account, you won’t likely notice these small withdraws or transactions. Often, hackers don’t get all your money at once, because this will alert the bank of any unusual activity.
Cybercriminals withdraw a small amount from your bank to test if the bank or you will notice any changes. If none has occurred, then expect them to go ahead on their next step.
From Small Unnoticed Transactions to Empty Bank Account
Another sign that you have been hacked is when your bank account has been emptied. Going back to the first sign, if you were not alert of any changes that have occurred in your account, that’s the time, hackers will empty your account.
However, this is not often seen as some banks are keen on observing some suspicious activity on each bank account. Therefore, cyber thieves who plan to do this are more cautious in their activity.
Closed Bank Account
If you received information from your bank informing you that your savings account has been closed, without any reason that you know, it means something is wrong.
However, it doesn’t often reach to this point, since most banks are observant when it comes to larger money transfer or withdrawal activity. If such thing occurs, you will be immediately informed.
This doesn’t mean that you have to rely on your bank all the time to be protective of your money. Even though it’s their responsibility to do so, it is better that you also take precaution to keep your money safe too.
If you have noticed any of these signs, hoping it didn’t reach the point of empty or closed bank accounts, it is time to take action.
Here are steps you can do once you have discovered suspicious activities happening in your account.
Check Out Any Activities of your bank account
As mentioned above, you have to be alert and protective of your bank or data. Check your account once in a while. If any activities have been noticed, it’s time to take action.
Look through all of your bank statements, online bank, and transactions to see any changes.
Don’t Figure Out Who Did it
Finding out the source of the breach is a tough thing to do. After all, hackers are not easy to find since there are thousands of them finding for their next victim every day. Therefore, don’t waste your time getting mad and looking for the person responsible behind this attack. Instead, do something that will safeguard your other accounts and the remaining money.
Change your PIN
Now that you have figured out something sceptical is happening on your account, and you know now that figuring out who did it is not the right step to take. It’s best to first jump into changing some of your important data, like your PIN and password.
If you use your PIN and password on your other accounts, it’s best to change all the passwords for those accounts. Use a stronger password that will not be easily figured out by anyone, and don’t recycle your password.
Contact Your Bank
After knowing about the suspicious activity, it is also best to inform your bank as to what is happening to your account. Inform them of the changes you have noticed for them to investigate the situation. You can choose to freeze your account or credit account to avoid future purchases from the hacker.
Sign Up for Credit Monitoring Services
If you want to monitor any future activities for your information, you can sign up for services offered by banks and certain financial institutions. With this service, you’ll be able to see if any of your information such as bank account, social security number, and even your name if it is used on the internet or even on the dark web.
This service might be a little expensive, but it provides security and peace of mind to users.
CONCLUSION
Nobody wants to be fallen into the hands of a cybercriminal or thieves. It seems personal when you are the one involved in this situation. Therefore, always be on the alert. It is also important to know to practice precaution, like don’t give any details to anyone even when they say that they are from your bank. Beware when purchasing items online, make sure that the site is secured with SSL or more. Don’t answer any emails send to you to avoid being a victim of phishing.
Practice these to avoid being one of these cyber thieves’ next victim. Implement ways to secure your data today or in the future. We cannot stop these cybercriminals from stealing data from us, but we can protect ourselves from them.