{"id":36750,"date":"2018-12-17T16:13:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T08:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=36750"},"modified":"2020-06-05T13:43:42","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T05:43:42","slug":"what-to-do-bank-account-hacked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/what-to-do-bank-account-hacked","title":{"rendered":"What Should You Do If Your Bank Account Is Hacked?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Your worst nightmare has come true. A hacker has gained access to your online banking account and completely wiped out your savings. So what can you do?<\/p>\n
This scenario sounds unlikely, but it can still happen. Modern identity verification is less secure than you think it is, and even SMS-based two-stage authentication<\/a> can be overcome. That TAC number your banks sends over SMS isn\u2019t much safer either. It just makes things a little harder for hackers and hopefully deter them enough that they go bother someone else.<\/p>\n So what do you do in the unfortunate event that you fall victim to cybercriminals?<\/p>\n Naturally, the first thing you need to do is contact your bank and inform them of the situation. Calling customer support and getting your account frozen until things can be sorted out is extremely important in ensuring that you don\u2019t lose even more.<\/p>\n Banks have safeguards against this sort of thing happening and will conduct an internal investigation to sort it out. So there\u2019s nothing to worry about; you will get your money back. Aside from the fact that someone has run off with your hard earned money.<\/p>\n Now that your money is secured, you need to ensure that you change the metaphorical locks and bar the metaphorical windows. Your first step is to figure out how you got hacked in the first place.<\/p>\n Many cybercriminals use social engineering to obtain login information. This is mainly done by anonymously contacting the victim and tricking them into giving up personal information that can be used to gain access to the account. Alternatively, this method is also used to install malware that gives the hacker access to the victim\u2019s computer.<\/p>\n Malware can also be distributed in many other ways. These include trapped email attachments, hacked files (usually pirated movies, songs, games, software), and occasionally display ads.<\/p>\n In the case of being tricked to give information; there\u2019s nothing much that can be done aside from learning a valuable lesson about trusting strangers. But if you\u2019ve been tricked into installing malware, you need to ensure that you remove it from your computer. Otherwise you\u2019re just going to fall victim again and again.<\/p>\n Ask your tech savvy friends if you\u2019re not sure how to go about this. Malware removal could get complicated if the people who hacked you know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n Now, it may not be your fault that your online banking account was hacked. After all, the hackers could have gone after the bank instead of just taking advantage of individuals. It\u2019s more profitable to hack banks or the SWIFT<\/a> payment system.<\/p>\n Still it\u2019s better to cover all your bases at this point.<\/p>\n Now that you\u2019re sure your money isn\u2019t completely lost to the void, you can start locking things down. Changing your password is the bare minimum that needs to be done. Even if you never find out how the hackers broke into your account.<\/p>\n There are more than a few stories about how to go about making a secure password. For the most part, a longer password is better than a short one. The best advice we\u2019ve ever seen is to simply use a phrase that\u2019s easy to remember or refer to this comic.<\/p>\n<\/span>Notify your bank<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Check for malware<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Change your password<\/span><\/h2>\n