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Is your refrigerator putting your banking information at risk?

Is that new Facebook friend hacking me?
Posted

"Cybercrime is still very much a new crime."

In the age of technology there are so many ways to save our banking information in phones and computers to make it more easily accessible when we want to spend money.

But, security experts say that phishing emails, and now “smIshing” text messages are still the most common forms of cybertheft.

Security expert Holly Hubert, CEO of GlobalSecurityIQ, says there’s a new player in the field that’s making people really vulnerable to hackers.

"Think about what we put out on social media, because we give hackers a little bit of info about us, they might have a gem to start with because they might have checked our facebook or instagram or whatever."

Privacy settings are always changing on social media platforms, companies are required to send out new privacy notices, but instead of clicking thought them make sure you’re taking the time to at least check in and make sure they’re set to your preferences.

Almost everything from speaker systems to refrigerators are connected to the internet these days.

"Just because it’s connected to the internet, doesn’t mean it’s bad,” said Hubert.

Security experts at KeyBank in Buffalo say there are many ways to make sure your banking information stays safe.

"If you consider yourself to be not so tech savvy or more traditional one of the things you can do is to check your credit report on a regular basis,” said Kawanza Humphrey, KeyBank responsibility officer. 

"We advise clients to be aware of any phone calls or text messages that they get where they’re being asked to return a call on an urgent basis, and where they’re being asked to input their account information. The bank will never do that."

 

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