The man's side of it!

This hits very close to home! Bank of America is the chain bank that automatically freezes accounts when suspicious activity is detected. (My bank)
Cyber theft

By DAVID LEVINSKY AND JASON HARRIS
Burlington County Times

Kathy Chester has never visited Russia and has no family there. So it came as a shock when she learned that someone in Russia had used her personal bank account and personal identification number to withdraw nearly $500 from her checking account last month.

“I was astonished, to say the least,” said the Westampton resident who discovered two withdrawals of $248.69 from her account Feb. 21 while checking her Commerce Bank statement online.

Commerce Bank is still investigating how the withdrawals were made, according to a company spokesman. However, he said computer hackers have a variety of methods for stealing bank information from several sources in order to make fraudulent withdrawals.

The convenience of debit cards and online banking comes at a cost. Many card holders and online bank customers are finding out the hard way that their accounts can be tapped by hackers who manage to draw out money before they or their bank are aware.

At least one local bank chain has opted to freeze numerous debit-card accounts, often without the owners' knowledge, because they suspect the owner's account information has been compromised.

“It's a price of technology and the convenience to be able to buy things from the comfort of your home or at the store without cash,” said Mark Rasch, a former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor and now senior vice president for Solutionary Inc., a security-audit firm in Bethesda, Md.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Internet-related complaints accounted for 45 percent of the more than 686,000 reported fraud complaints last year. Credit cards and money orders accounted for most of the Internet fraud complaints, according to the trade commission.

Rasch said hackers are becoming more sophisticated in their methods of breaching computer systems and are increasingly targeting less-protected small businesses or home computer users rather then large companies that can spend million of dollars on security software to protect their computer systems.

These hackers will use tactics such as “phishing” and “Trojan horses” in order to steal account information and a personal identification number (PIN).

Phishing scams fool computer users into entering sensitive information on Web pages that look legitimate.

A Trojan horse is a type of computer attack that allows a hacker to record the keystrokes a user makes in order to get sensitive information such as access codes and PINs.

“It's a great way to steal money,” Rasch adding that the criminals often won't seek to steal large amounts of money that might draw attention. Instead, he said they target millions of computer users and hope for a few thousand successes.

“What banks have essentially done is put ATMs in people's living rooms. The security is only as good as that of the home computer,” Rasch said.

Businesses such as wholesale clubs and eBay are also being targeted since their computer systems and records also contain sensitive information used by customers who purchase goods online or with credit and debit cards.

Bank officials said if a company suspects its records have been breached then it must report any card numbers that may have been compromised to VISA or MasterCard, which then must notify the bank that issued the card.

As a precaution, the bank may opt to deactivate the card in order to protect the customer from potential fraud.

Thomas Topley, senior vice president of Farmers & Mechanics Bank, called security breaches an “industrywide problem” and said the bank periodically has been forced to deactivate cards because of businesses records being accessed.

In a letter mailed to some Farmers & Mechanics Bank customers in October, the bank apologized for deactivating a “significant number of VISA check cards.”

“No doubt it is an inconvenience,” Topley said, “Most customers are initially angry, but once we explain what happened and why we did what we did, they're usually thankful. We figure it's better to be safe than sorry.”

Special Agent Robert Slama of the U.S. Secret Service Philadelphia field office said law enforcement agencies in the Greater Philadelphia area have partnered with private businesses and academic institutions to form an Electronic Crimes Task Force in order to develop new protections and methods of catching cyber criminals.

Unfortunately, he said the criminals are also becoming increasingly savvy and are also forming alliances among their ranks in order to more effectively commit illicit activities.

Meanwhile, Chester is still looking for answers about how her own account was accessed, in Russia of all places. Although the bank replaced the money taken from her account, she said she is still considering closing her account as a precaution.

David Flaherty, spokesman for Commerce Bank, said there is no evidence of the bank's records being breached and that investigators suspect Chester's case was an isolated incident.

He said there are numerous methods criminals use to gain debit cards information.

“In today's world there are just a number of ways and people have to be careful about using their debit cards,” Flaherty said.

Renee Borstad, director of the county office of Consumer Affairs, urged residents to carefully check their bank statements in order to detect fraud. She said any suspicious activity should be reported to the bank immediately.

“There's been a tremendous increase in money being taken from consumers by fraud and consumers being tricked into giving out information they shouldn't,” Borstad said. “People need to be careful and keep a close eye on their statements and credit reports.”

Slama said computer users also need to be careful about giving out sensitive information such as their Social Security number, bank account number, passwords or PINs.

“Education and prevention is key because law enforcement is not able to stop these criminals alone,” he said.

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