So How can You Stay Safe?
With deepfakes being used for financial fraud, ESET’s findings show Android mobile banking users need to be more careful, especially with their identity.
The important thing to remember is keeping your personally identifiable information (PII) to yourself, including on social media posts.
Never share your personal info until you verify the asker is legitimate.
Whether by phone, text, or email, fraudsters contact targets pretending to be from their financial institution (FI).
They say anything to get your attention including instilling urgency and fear, all to steal your sensitive information.
A phone call to the financial institution can verify if the caller and information you’re being told is for real, as can logging in to the FI’s official website for account messages.
Also, consider setting up a code word shared between you and your FI for identity verification.
Never use the phone number, website address, or other contact information provided by the “FI employee.” It can be a direct line to the fraudster continuing the scam.
Staying safe online is evolving to meet the threat of AI being used for cybercrime.
Identity verification is more essential than ever and using the tools we have to do that is our responsibility.
So, remember overall, verify first before sharing PII so you don’t end up paying the price later.
