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Ditto on all the carefulness, i had an email a while back that was supposed to be from Paypal, i didn't trust it because of the bad layout and it looked childish, so i signed into my account online to check for any changes or blocks in place and all was fine......message deleted.
If you do get a really dodgy looking email post a screenshot here and someone will give their opinion, though its usually easy to tell if they are fake.;)
Liam
Not a good idea even to go to the site, even if you do give false info. Many of them not only try to get your sensitive info, but download trojans, keyloggers, or other malware onto your PC. I filter those emails into the trash right off, so I'm never seeing em.
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Not a good idea even to go to the site, even if you do give false info. Many of them not only try to get your sensitive info, but download trojans, keyloggers, or other malware onto your PC. I filter those emails into the trash right off, so I'm never seeing em.
I meant i went to the site manually, not through a link in the mail, i think a lot of banks and online money transfer services would telephone you as you have to verify the account details with them by phone when you open an account, email seems a little bit too impersonal and not as safe(obviously).
Liam
I also received one recently (and not the first by any means) and was (finally) curious. I did a VIEW | PAGE SOURCE on their email message (in Outlook). Lo and behold, the link to "PayPal" was actually to a numerical IP address. Using that address in WHOIS (http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jhtml), it turned out to be a "business" (and not PayPal) in Australia.Quote:
i had an email a while back that was supposed to be from Paypal, i didn't trust it because of the bad layout and it looked childish, so i signed into my account online to check for any changes or blocks in place and all was fine......message deleted.
Financial institutions (including eBay and PayPal) do make it known that NO financial institution will notify you of things this way.
make all ebay phishing to [email protected] they (with all their money and power), will investigate and prosecute..,,, ..
I too bank online! I have my paycheck dirrect deposited. With gasoline approaching $3.00 a gallon.... and the internet is free up here.... I save time and money doing it online and I can get info immediately on accounts.
I do have reservations about security and such but I am always patched up and scan my system at least a few times a week for spyware, trojans, and viruses. So because I am dilligent about maintaining my computer I feel much more secure about banking online!
No problems here either and agree with the others. :)
Thanks everyone for all the input. Really appreciate it. I do have a few more questions, as there's a couple things I'm still a little anxious about. (Hanging out here taught me to stay on the healthy side of paranoid ;).
1: Where we bank we have 3 accounts, including the checking account I would use for online. If I activate the checking account only for online banking, am I compromising the security of the savings accounts under the same name(s) at the same bank? Would it be better to use a separate checking account from a separate bank for online banking, so there is a limited amount of funds that could be accessed?
2: I recently went to high speed (cable). I use AdAware, Spybot, Spyware Blaster, and AVG Free and ZA Free. I'm extremely careful, not had a major virus in 3 years, never a Trojan, and in 7 years online only two viruses total. My question: is free ZA and AVG enough, or if I do online banking should I upgrade to a purchased version? Would I get any additional security features from a pay version of a firewall or AV that would be of benefit for online banking? I used to use Norton AV, but honestly I like AVG much better: does the job and is sleek, streamlined and unobtrusive.
3: I already know the answer to this one, I think. I want to create a network between my notebook and desktop. I'd then use the notebook for onling banking (located in a more "private" area of the house and would not get as much use as the desktop). However, I wanted a wireless network - would that be another security compromise?
TIA ~Kathy
1st question i'm not sure personally as i only have one account, and someone will offer an opinion on that after me i'm sure.:)
2nd question: i don't think there are differences between the free and paid versions of the popular firewalls and antivirus programs, apart from additional features such as impoved email protection or more options for control.
3rd question, i'm not an expert in the Networking field but i'm sure you could purchase a wireless router with a built in hard firewall and then with additional software firewall (XP + third party) and antivirus programs installed i think it would be pretty secure.;)
Best bet may be to ask in the relevant forum, or someone with better knowledge of Networking and security may add some opinions here.:)
Liam
for KatMac..,
Does your internet allow you to browse and look into your checking account for all three accounts,, If so Do the banking like I suggested in my post a bit back,, DO Not just trust / or allow the banking to do all the downloads for you to your account in the PC.., Too confusing , and you'll want to double check it any way., Just install a money 98 thru money 04?.., and set up all three accounts like i suggested and then after you go shopping, when you get home, within the day, sit down and enter all your entries., ..
about the others who have answered back to this post as well, just make sure your IE 6 has cypher strength 128 bit., that is the key to a secure internet as well., Plus your firewalls will be very protective as well.
I love online banking also and have been paying bills online for about 7 years and have never had any issues. It's saves me from having to go to the post office and buying stamps every month. I get daily notices from my bank and it tells me my withdraws and deposits posted for that day. Couldn't live without it, plus it allows me to catch charges that I didn't make or place...
Well, I just delved deeper into the nitty gritty of how my bank handles online banking. Looks like by default it's all accounts activated online automatically once you activate one. That includes checking , savings, credit cards, loans, CDs, the whole nine yards. Sheesh. I don't have all my eggs in one basket, but I don't like the idea of activating my online account for checking and having the two savings accounts thrown into the soup by default. I'll have to call the bank and see if they will remove the savings accounts from online access. Perhaps my thinking is skewed, but I feel the more accounts active online, the more the security risk?
There will always be a security risk, even outside of online banking there are risks, such as someone taking your mail or losing your credit card or someone finding a receipt with a credit card number and expiration date on it and using it. Not all receipt void the first 12 numbers of your receipt, I've found some places that don't.
KatMac: I would agree with your feelings that the less you offer to the web, the better. If there is any way to limit what bank accounts are web-enabled, it surely would not hurt to do so. If you can't, then at least you know what is out there. (This is of course keeping in mind that the bank is already connected to the web anyway. Even if your own personal access remains restricted.)
You question if you are safe enough with your current setup. I'm sure that if 100 of us answered that, you'd get nearly 100 different opinions. :D That said, I do have a couple of suggestions.
From time to time, check the list of programs that are listed in ZoneAlarm. Make sure there aren't any new ones that you don't recognize. If you see some you don't know, do some research and make sure they are safe.
Also important, it's very rare that any programs need server permission in ZA. So act as server entries should all be permanently denied. (If this does prevent a program from working that worked before, it would again pay to research what's going on before just granting server rights. Server rights are an open, incoming door into your PC.)
You could also consider using an anti-trojan program to scan your setup once in a while. If you are running XP, I'd recommend free ewido. http://www.ewido.net/en/ It is the full version for 2 weeks and then reverts to just a scanner after that. It definitely scans for different things than the programs you are already using. (If you don't have XP, consider free a-squared. http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/ It's similar to ewido and would be a worthwhile addition to your arsenal.)
I'm not comfortable in trying to tell someone what AV they should be running. After all, there are lots of choices out there. I do have my own thoughts but unless asked for specific advice, I'll just say that whatever you run, keep it up to date. And I will also say that I would advocate doing a complete, manual scan on a regular basis. (Of course, these are good ideas with any AV.)
Network-wise, purchase and install a router. Make sure that it offers something called NAT (network address translation.) This provides one more layer of security between your PCs and the web. When using NAT, the numerical IP address of each of your computers is different than the IP address the web sees. This makes looking into your PCs much harder.
Also, if going to a wireless network, do some research on things you can do (encryption, MAC filtering, etc.) to tighten up the security between your wireless PC and the wireless access point (which would likely be your new router.) (Wireless users here at VDr could help you with this kind of stuff.)
Hope this helps a little... ;)
There are dangers in every activity. We must weigh the benefits against the dangers. If you drive there is a very real possibility that you will die in an auto accident, but for most of us the convenience is worth the risk. I choose not to use online banking but I'm retired and my banking activities are relatively infrequent. If you follow the suggestions in this thread the risk will be small and, for you, probably worth the risk.
BTW - The greater threat may be an attack on your bank's computer rather than on your's. Or the stupid errors made by banks, card issuers, etc. Its a rare week that no one reports the loss of their backup tapes, or emails with confidential info sent to the wrong party, etc, etc, etc. There's nothing you can do about it and using online banking doesn't contribute to the problem.