Increase in Wire Fraud ….. How to deal with it

Over the last several years there has been an increase in wire fraud.  Anytime money is involved and with the dependence/acceptance of internet related communications it is not surprising to see such an increase.  Think of it as a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, but without the firearms…yaya, always glass half full!

How the scam works

Most frequently the scam begins via a hijacking of an email address. A bad guy may step in the middle of an email conversation and request money in various forms.

Prevention Techniques

To prevent this, we recommend a strong password (letters, numbers and symbols) and frequent changing of the password. Most all of you have received an email asking you to click on a link/virus from a friend or contact, this is a small hijacking but is similar to losing control of your email. Don’t let it happen to you and if it does, change your password IMMEDIATELY!

How it affects us

Current account/wire information on file does not change and will be unaffected.  New wire requests are where the action lies.

If there is a request to send funds to a non-similar titled account, expect our back office to not only call the receiving party, but in certain cases we may need to conference call with our wire department for audible verification. Yes an inconvenience, but a minor one given the alternatives.

If possible, giving a little extra time for money transfers is advised, but we understand there are times when this is not possible.

Have a Great Monday!

John Kvale CFA, CFP