Scotiabank, as part of its observation of Cyber Security Month, recently hosted a forum to address the issue of online security at the Scotiabank Centre under the theme ‘Securing Your Finances in the Digital Age’.

With customers being the target of this initiative, Scotiabank’s Manager, Forensics Leighton Mitchell cautioned the audience to have better control of personal information, while warning them of the dangers lurking online, among them phishing, malware and identity theft.

“Don’t randomly share your name and e-mail address. Any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as name, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name; or information linked to an individual, such as medical, educational, financial and employment information, should be protected,” Mitchell warned.

“Requests for details on your tax registration number, credit card number or bank account should be corroborated. This is the information fraudsters use to defraud you,” he continued.

The gathering, which included SME customers, were informed of the various schemes affecting Jamaica’s financial sector and the strategies being employed to ensure the protection of client information and funds.

Just last month the Jamaica Observer reported that at least 20 individuals were defrauded, having used automated banking machines (ABMs). The report, ‘NCB will compensate customers affected by ABM fraud’, indicates that at least two National Commercial Bank (NCB) ABMs were compromised by the activities of fraudsters.

To alleviate the situation, NCB posted a five-minute video, titled ‘ABM fraud – tips for protecting card’, advising customers how to protect their personal information number (PIN) and detailing the tactics used by the criminals to ascertain customers’ information and siphon funds from their accounts.

At that time Scotiabank’s Public & Corporate Affairs Manager Hope MacMillan revealed to the Business Observer that “this is one of the reasons why we will be hosting an in-branch educational seminar to talk about how customers can protect their accounts”.

The Caribbean Business Report on Friday, October 7, also reported that banks, including Scotiabank Jamaica and NCB, united in partnership to combat ABM scams and raise awareness about online security.

“Always remember that Scotiabank will never send you unsolicited e-mails asking for personal information such as password, PIN, access code, credit card and account numbers,” Scotiabank’s forensic manager pointed out. “We will never ask you to validate or restore your account access through e-mail or pop-up windows.”

Mitchell urged clients to protect PINs and passwords, including on wireless modem; use encryption, anti-virus and personal firewall; and to install reliable anti-malware.