How to Protect Your Customers From Fraud During COVID-19

Scammers and cybercriminals will use any opportunity to rob people of their financial assets. We have seen this happen a lot in recent months as

Coronavirus spreads across the globe. News agencies reported that fraudsters launched a variety of fake medical supplies sales websites and government loans and aid schemes to rob unsuspecting people.

In light of what’s happening, banks and financial institutions should step up to help protect their clients’ financial assets.

Bank Account Protection Is Important

We are living in difficult times and people have a desire for information that can bring them certainty. It is easy to exploit people right now with all sorts of false stories about COVID 19.

Scammers use nefarious schemes to lower the guard for unsuspecting bank account holders. Banks should increase their efforts to help customers protect themselves by proactively providing them information.

Improve Fraud Prevention Protocols

Most banks have fraud prevention teams and IT experts working in cyber defense. These teams should quickly respond to suspicious activity or transactions that look out of regular banking habits for clients.

Banks may have to adjust the balance between customer experience and fraud risk to provide better but a secure service for customers.

Adjust Operations

Many businesses have switched their operations from the office environment to a work from home setup. Banks should be ready to make adjustments that balance fraud alerts across their team and offer a continuous improvement approach for client businesses.

Proactive Actions that Banks can Take Right Now

Improve Customer Information

Reports suggest that phishing schemes and malware attacks are on the rise as more and more people are looking for information online. Banks should launch customer awareness campaigns quickly through multiple channels.

The campaigns can be used to remind customers about security protocols and how to spot and avoid common fraud schemes.

Securing Account Transaction

Experts warn that fraud attacks are expected to rise in the coming months. Clients should be encouraged to use the safeguard measures provided by the bank.

Common security measures including multi-factor authentication, transaction alerts and login attempts should be forwarded to clients’ mobiles and trusted devices through push notifications in real-time.

Scams

We have seen an increase in consumer scams for people who are struggling and require financial aid. Fraudsters and fake charities are claiming to provide access to government programs and loans.

They ask for the victim’s bank account details promising funds and then hack the accounts to steal funds.

Banks should encourage their clients to verify the legitimacy of an organization claiming to work on behalf of the government before donating or providing any information to the organizations.

Phishing/Smishing/Malware Attacks

Banks should also get in touch with clients and tell them how to avoid phishing/Smishing attacks that harvest online banking credentials or install malware on their computers that track their activities.

It should be noted that most scammers pretend to be bank employees and ask for information such as pin numbers, date of birth, SSN, or account numbers that should never be revealed.

Another tactic is to send a malware carrying email that promises to provide information about the virus or share knowledge on a vaccine or cure for the virus. As soon as the recipient clicks open, the virus is copied on their device and gives the hacker easier access to the device in the future.

With that, during these challenging times, it is important that financial institutions do their due diligence and place proper controls and precautions to protect their customers’ financial assets from scammers and cybercriminals. Otherwise, fraud attacks will continue to be on the rise.

How ComplyGenics Can Help

Many Fintech companies do not have the resources at hand to properly navigate an environment of increasingly complex regulations and compliance measures. ComplyGenics is here to help. We provide such services as compliance audit and program remediation, AML rule tuning, and model validation, helping you mitigate risks and keep up with the best industry KYC and FCP standards. We also specialize in staffing for the niche, helping you connect the right talent for your firm within the industry. For more information, visit our site or contact us.