How often do you change PIN #s and passwords etc on your accounts? Bank accounts, email accounts, Facebook, Britishexpats...

Somehow today a fraudster helped himself to $480 of my money. They managed to set up an interac payment from my account to somebody who had a name very similar to a friend of mine but not to his email address.

The bank is investigating. During that time I cannot use the account. It has been frozen! I can't even log in. They've told me it can take as much as 10 working days! I'm just hoping I get the money back!

So a word to the wise. At the very least change your passwords and PIN numbers regularly. Not just on your bank accounts but email, Facebook and anywhere else. Also use PIN #s that are not a memorable date.

These fraudsters are clever! You need to stay one step ahead of them.

So they did this via online banking you say ? Not thru using a copied bank card.

Chances are they hacked your PC computer or lap top. If you use your computer to buy stuff and then use a dodgy site there is a good chance you will get hacked and any passwords will be phished

Change everything else asap

And check you don't have a keylogger on your computer.. maybe use the on-screen keyboard for a while until you are certain?

Hope you get the money refunded asap.

But I only ever log in to my bank through my phone.
They have to have hacked in to my phone for any chance of finding the answers to the banks questions and the pin. That's assuming that somewhere on my phone there's a trace of the answers from when I've logged in before.
It's only an interac account, no debit so I can't buy online with it.
They also must have logged in to my email to "find" my friends name. Not that they were able to remember how to spell it!

Come to think of it I've been getting a lot of spam recently. Wonder if there's any connection?

As I said to magnumpi I only use my phone to log in to my account.
Busy changing passwords now!

Just out of interest is it an Android or IPhone

I wonder how often u use open wifi ? Like McDonalds or Tims. This type of wifi connection is unsecured and info on your phone can be stolen quite easily

Also just to add, make sure Bluetooth is off, as that is another way hackers can gain entry into your phone

There are keyloggers that can be placed on phones too, via an app or similar.

This is true, usually via a dodgy email link that needs clicking on or a free game with a nasty add on surprise!!

It's Important you remember where u have used your cell, that may well be where u got hacked. then u know not to go there or do the same thing again :@)

Well coincidentally over the last few days I was getting lots of spam. Maybe 6 or 7 spam emails every day. Maybe not a coincidence?
I use my phone in Tims sometimes using their wifi. That's the only place.
I downloaded Candy Crush (yes I'm embarrassed!) about 10 days ago...
Otherwise nothing new.

Too many passwords to change. I don't know how much can actually be "done" to prevent this kind of crime. It seems as though if you are unlucky enough to be targeted by a hacker, then whatever steps you have been taken will be inadequate anyway. Perhaps not using your device in a public place decreases vulnerability somewhat, but then what's the point of having mobile access in the first place. At one point the banks (in the UK at least) were using those calculator style PIN entry devices to enhance banking security, but now even that seems to be sacrificed to the convenience of just being able to bank on your phone.

It seems a bit like bicycle thefts. The person determined to have your bike will get it and the best you can do is to deter the opportunist who will go for the easier target (someone else's bike) instead.

I wonder about password managers. Don't they just put your passwords in one convenient place for a hacking expert?

Someone clever enough to hack into a computer - possibly having some knowledge of the victim to begin with - how does a password manager prevent that? Don't you need a password to access the manager?

Mine stopped that a few years ago but I think that was more to do with me making the same 'bill payment' and nothing else. From something I vaguely recall seeing more recently, I think if I were to set up a new payment, it might be needed again.

So there's more risk if using a phone or public wi-fi? I'll continue to avoid that.

Many moons ago (pre-internet) I had a renewal credit card intercepted - back when you had those tear open slips that obviously announced to anyone seeing it that it contained a PIN and was, thus, an announcement that a card would follow - and several purchases (mostly out of town) were made before the bank phoned me.

Early internet days (for me ) something I subscribed to and then cancelled...I found once that the monthly payment was taken. I checked previous statements and saw it three times over about 8 months. I would probably have noticed had it been every month.

Small amounts but added up with other victims I suppose it adds up.

$480? Big enough to be easily noticed but why stop at that?

I like to think one look at my bank account and a hacker won't bother.

What irritates the most - apart from the obvious missing $480 - is that the bank emailed me at 4:15pm yesterday stating "orange alert - did you generate this interac to this person"?.... At 4:16 another email came through saying the person had accepted the money. Surely if the bank suspected something they should have stopped the transaction until I had called them to authorize/decline!

This seems very much dependent on the bank I think. There's much more of a delay with some banks than others between the timing of something actually happening and the time of an email notice.

I've seen differences as much as a couple of hours apart, so that 4.16 email may have been delayed and the acceptance could have been an hour earlier.

Having said that, if an orange alert is triggered, surely they need to have some procedure whereby that's accounted for before the recipient is even notified.

You have clearly been hacked, if someone can generate the transfer and also accept it.

Really sorry to read that & I'm sure it happens to many folks & trust that you get it sorted ASAP.

We don't do on-line banking, we don't have a 'smart phone' & I know since we've been told many times 'we are in the dark ages'. Someone on BE has mentioned a few times "who goes inside a bank these days to do banking" - well that's what we do.

Inconvenient, no not in the least, its just us

My wife doesn't have a bank card or credit card, just her bank book.

I have a bank card from when they first came into use & used it to withdraw money when I needed it when I was working.

Since being retired I do not use that card ever in any ATM or at the named bank kiosk other than when I go to the bank to withdraw cash from the teller.

On a day to day basis, we both pay cash for everything

I have one credit card that usually gets used once per year for a flight to the UK (never ever an on line, only with a live agent) or big ticket items above $1000 in a store, otherwise its always cash. No on line purchases ever

On the PIN, I worked with someone that was in banking that advised to change the PIN at least once per year & if someone had a credit card to call in that it was lost as frequent as once per year, even though it was still in your possession.

To keep any cards that have electronic strips on them that you have in your pocket, wallet, purse should always be in a metal sleeve so they cannot be iced.

How many of you change you social media passwords at least once per year?