How safe is internet banking?
Former_MSE_Dan
Posts: 1,593 Forumite
REPOSTED FROM PREVIOUS FORUM AFTER CHANGE OVER.
ORIGINALLY POSTED BY Skinflint
I am looking to open a high interest savings account. However the majority of the good ones are internet only.
Is it really that safe to conduct your transactions via the net with al the hackers etc flying around?
I have phoned Ing for their information pack but it is taking an age to get here and judging by a comment read in another thread, I am beginning to wonder whether to try elsewhere
Jon
ORIGINALLY POSTED BY Skinflint
I am looking to open a high interest savings account. However the majority of the good ones are internet only.
Is it really that safe to conduct your transactions via the net with al the hackers etc flying around?
I have phoned Ing for their information pack but it is taking an age to get here and judging by a comment read in another thread, I am beginning to wonder whether to try elsewhere
Jon
Former MSE team member
0
Comments
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I use internet banking, have done for as long as it has been available. The key is to keep all your bank details confidential, no-one else uses my laptop so it is quite safe. I use ING, easy transfers between my current account and savings accounts. The internet banks can give better interest because they need fewer people to run them. I also travel a lot for business so calling into a branch isn't an easy option for me.0
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MSE_Dan wrote:REPOSTED FROM PREVIOUS FORUM AFTER CHANGE OVER.
ORIGINALLY POSTED BY Skinflint
I am looking to open a high interest savings account. However the majority of the good ones are internet only.
Is it really that safe to conduct your transactions via the net with al the hackers etc flying around?
I have phoned Ing for their information pack but it is taking an age to get here and judging by a comment read in another thread, I am beginning to wonder whether to try elsewhere
Jon
Its all about taking sensible precautions.
If like someone i met recently you do not have anti virus software and anti spy software installed its about as safe as investing in Enron.
On the other hand providing you have the above installed and regularly updated and keep your details private its not a problem.
I have been using online banking for many years with out a problem.0 -
With Alliance and Leicester all you can do is direct debit from your linked account or pay-out to your linked account. You can't pay the money to someone else, so what would a hacker do?0
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lipidicman wrote:With Alliance and Leicester all you can do is direct debit from your linked account or pay-out to your linked account. You can't pay the money to someone else, so what would a hacker do?
This is similar to ING, you link it to a current account, as you say where would they send the money?0 -
I am currently working on a project to supply a private bank with Online Banking and we take the highest precautions with regard to clients details.
The servers are all security tested by experts , details encrypted both internally and externally on networks.
Online banking credentials like passwords and access codes are sent securely from outside printers so staff in the bank do not know what your details are.
Fraud/Risk/Legal departments have a lot to do with the developments.
Most if not all will cover you in the case of the system being broken into unless it is proven you have been negligent with your details.
You have to make sure you have anti virus runing on your PC, windows upto date fully, spyware removers as we treat all clients pc's as hostile as they are the weak link in the chain as banks hire experts to ensure security.
BenI beep for Robins - Beep Beep
& Choo Choo for trains!!0 -
oh yeah, never log into your account from an untrusted pc be it work machine or especially internet cafe as key stroke loggers will be on all internet cafe machines by now.I beep for Robins - Beep Beep
& Choo Choo for trains!!0 -
lipidicman wrote:With Alliance and Leicester all you can do is direct debit from your linked account or pay-out to your linked account. You can't pay the money to someone else, so what would a hacker do?0
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panther wrote:They could lose you interest by transferring your savings back to your current a/c
panther, thank you so much, I have been depressed all day and you have just made me laugh out loud :-)
Cheerfulcat0 -
I have been using Nationwide's internet banking for years and think they are great. Their e-savings account is reasonable for large sums and their flex-account is a great current account.0
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I had £2375 fraudulantyly taken from my Natwest Online Account in the first week of Jan 05.
I managed to download a worm, which changed some files within the System32 folder which inturn hi-jacked my Internet Browser. You would input https://www.natwest.com into the browser, but you would be sent to another website which was the clone of the natwest site.
Everything was the same, except for the date was incorrect. It said Tues 7th Jan instead of Monday the 9th. I thought nothing of it, and went back too google, and put in Natwest, to use the link from there to see if i got the same effect. I went from google and the site was exactly the same. I clicked to login, and the site went from http:// to https:// as usual, it had the padlock. ( I did not click on the padlock tho), also the webpage had a error on it. I looked at the error and thought nothing of it.
I proceeded to enter my user number, and initially i noticed the cursor on the natwest account moves over on completition of the number, but this one never did. I had to move it myself. I then went to the next page, and it asked for your 'Password' 'Pin' not the normal random codes, numbers..
As the site was https:// and had the padlock i entered them. Then clicked proceed, only to find the next page said ' Service Temporarly Unavailable'. I than began to panic as my password and pin had been entered, and therefore someone could of had full access to my account. Its not a normal account as you will find out in a min..!
I then contacted natwest customer services by telephone on the number i had stored in my mobile. The links on the natwest website were now not working, as i was still on the site. I spoke to a young lady, expressed my views on the natwest site being incorrect, and that i had just given my full password / pin into the site. I was told to ring back at 8am when the online helpdesk opens. This was about 7:05am, i was working 12hr night shifts on armed guard (6pm-6am) so therefore wanted to goto bed. So i did....
I got a phone call at about 3pm, tell me that £2375 had been transferred to a C. Wilson via online banking transfer. I mentioned that this was not true, we then went into what happened in the morning, then searched into my PC. We found the 'host file' within the System 32 folder had been modified so that it redirects the Internet Address Bar to somewhere else. You see what they want you too see, but nothing more.
If i put in https://www.HSBC.co.uk i would be transferred to the cloned HSBC website the hacker had. If i put in https://www.halifax-online.co.uk I went to the HSBC site too.. this was well weird as all the address in the host file would send you to the IP address, and to the same page. I took screen shots of the fake pages, and once i had entered the details into the site, it removed itself from the Host file, therefore allowing you access to the main site you were visiting again....weird...
They had not transferred all the cash out of my account, as the bank said this looks unusual for someone to empty there account to someone they dont know. The payment was made to someone within the natwest bank, so they tracked it the same day. I had to contact the police to give permission etc, and they mentioned the person could be in trouble for money laundering. They withdraw the money, and pass it on via Western Union. He mentioned they get recruited for working for a charity, claiming that people would send them money, and they were too pass it on, giving themselves a 5% cut or something. I imagine it must of been alot of cash for Natwest to pick it up.
I had a 3 week wait, had to sign a form saying that i needed to upgrade to SP2, get a Firewall appart from the Windows Firewall, and use a Antivirus for which i used AVG 7.0 anyway.
its not a nice feeling, thinking you've lost £2.3k, when you just paid £10.6k for a car the week before, it was a month where i was inbetween payment for everything, and was living on borrowed money for jan till things had been settled. Everything is fine now, except that im more up too date on checking padlocks etc...
My host file had been changed from# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
127.0.0.1 localhost
To this..65.75.165.10 ibank.barclays.co.uk
65.75.165.10 online-business.lloydstsb.co.uk
65.75.165.10 online.lloydstsb.co.uk
65.75.165.10 https://www.halifax-online.co.uk
65.75.165.10 https://www.ukpersonal.hsbc.co.uk
65.75.165.10 banesnet.banesto.es
65.75.165.10 extranet.banesto.es
This therefore directs the Internet Page to the IP address not the real site. This file can be found under.. C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc then click on a file called 'hosts'. This cant be opened normally,you need to click it and open with notepad to read it.0
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