Everyone knows someone who has been a victim of fraud. It can be a total nightmare when a cybercriminal has dipped into your bank account, stolen your credit card details or taken out credit in your name.

In the short term your credit score is going to take a dip because you can’t simply delete it. Don’t despair, however. You’re not the first person in this situation and it can be ironed out.

There are a number of different types of fraud that befall Aussies, says Steve Brown, director of bureau engagement at illion (Credit Simple’s parent company). They include:

Identity theft

This is where a fraudster pretends to be you. Sometimes all they need is your name and birth date. The criminal may also get his/her hands on your passport, driver’s licence, credit cards and other documents and uses them to get credit. Even photocopies of these documents can be used to defraud you. The first you might know is that you start receiving credit card or store account bills you know nothing about.

Electronic fraud

All you have to do to tall victim is click on a link in a phishing email, malware or virus via email. It takes just one click to load a key logger on your computer and record your bank account login and password. The malicious email probably looks like it came from your bank, the Australian Tax Office or other organisation you have an account with. What’s more, once the fraudster has your login credentials for one account there’s a good chance you use the same passwords for others. Beware that eBay accounts can be accessed in this way and your feedback reputation ruined.

Credit or debit card fraud

This happens if your credit or debit card is stolen and used. Perhaps you’ve been shoulder surfed at an ATM and then your card is pick pocketed a few minutes later. More sophisticated fraudsters sometimes skim your card, create a copy and start spending on it.

Such frauds are the most insidious things that can happen to you around your credit history, says Brown. “Often the people whose identity or ID is stolen are very good credit risks, making them targets for fraudsters.”

It’s not your responsibility to pay this money back. In the meantime, however, you need to take steps to clear your name and sort out the mess. “There is a lot of work to unwind the damage done,” says Brown.

If you don’t act, the black mark on your credit record could stop you borrowing money in the future, buying a home, or even getting a job because employers often credit check potential employees. There have been cases in the past where debt collectors have chased fraud victims.

The good news is that there is a process that you need to follow. The steps to take are:

• Check your credit report. Monitor your credit report often to see any changes.
• Report the crime. You need to report the crime to the police.
• Tell your credit providers. Send the police report to your credit providers and ask them to remove the default or footprint on your credit report.
• Prove you were never there. Quite often, says Brown, lenders and credit providers can identify the location of the IP (Internet) address where the fraud was committed. If you can prove you weren’t in Nigeria, the Ukraine or Tasmania at the time it happened, that could help.
• Set up a credit alert. Ask the three credit agencies illion, Experian, Equifax and the Tasmanian Collection Service to put an alert on your credit file to warn other credit providers and stop the fraudsters in their tracks.
• Repeat. When you think the problem is dealt with get a copy of your credit report from each of the four agencies to ensure that none of the fraudulent entries remain. If they do, approach the credit providers again.
• Get help. If you need help consider contacting the local Citizens Advice Bureaux, local Legal Aid commission, or the Financial Ombudsman Service Australia for advice.
• Have the fraud alert removed. Sadly your credit score is going to be compromised until this is all cleared up. When it is finally ironed out contact the three agencies to remove the fraud alert.

The post What to do if you’re a victim of identity fraud appeared first on Credit Simple.

Once upon a time bank robbers needed guns and balaclavas. Today a mouse and keyboard can be more dangerous. Every year too many Aussies are defrauded by cyber criminals, resulting in annual losses of more than $2b, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology.

One common fraud method is ‘phishing’, where the victim clicks on what looks like a genuine email from a company such as their bank, an online trading site, or another organisation. Except that it’s not their bank, and their keystrokes are captured revealing their username and password. The phisher then logs into the genuine bank account doing what’s called an ‘account takeover’ and helps themselves to your money.

Fortunately there’s money in security, and as the fraudsters get cleverer so too are the programmers working for good developing increasingly sophisticated technology to thwart criminals.

Here’s a taster of what the fields of biometrics, artificial intelligence, and computer science are doing to help protect us against increasingly clever cyber-attacks.

Big data and analytics

Back in the day banks were very manual and their information was siloed, but they accept that they need to move forward to counter fraudsters. These days banks and financial institutions are learning to manage and analyse terabytes of historical and third-party data in real time. Combined with other technologies, this analysis of big data can often spot a fraudster in action and  may be able to stop them in their tracks.

Biometric authentication

Biometrics uses statistical analysis of online behaviour to authenticate customers. In short, the software analyses things such as the speed and rhythm of your keystrokes and mouse use online. A fraudster will have a different rhythm and with the right software can be prevented from emptying your bank account before any damage is done. Companies offering this type of technology include BioCatch and Behaviosec, which can pick up anomalies in data entry patterns. These systems can mutate as threats change.

360 degree view

Think of this as a holistic approach to protecting you. As banks evolve for the digital world they can access a 360-degree view of your buying behaviour, banking operation, and trading patterns providing them with a holistic view of your behaviour. If, for example a clone of your card is being used in Argentina in an unusual way, the transaction could be flagged very accurately by sophisticated software. Currently there are a lot of false positives with this approach, but it is improving rapidly.

Blockchain

Have you heard of Bitcoin? It’s electronic currency that aims to be super secure. Don’t try to get your head around that in one go. But suffice to say that the ‘blockchain’ technology behind it can help protect banks against hacks. Blockchain is a huge decentralised database that’s much more secure than old banking systems because fraudsters would have to hack into every single computer containing copies of the same data to get your money. As organisations such as banks move to using blockchain, you’ll hopefully get better protection.

Fingerprint recognition

The password is dying and methods of fingerprint and other identification such as voice, face and irises are expected to become more common. Banks are already using some of this technology in Australia.  As well as fingerprints, face, eyeball selfie, or voice recognition can be used instead of passwords. In the future you can expect to use your fingerprint to authorise purchases or transactions. It’s not failsafe, however and even your fingerprint can be hacked.

As a consumer you also need to play your part in preventing fraud by everything from avoiding clicking on unsolicited emails, using secure PINs, changing passwords periodically, never revealing your PIN to anyone, and just keeping your wits about you.

The post Fighting fraud: How biometrics and artificial intelligence are helping to keep you safe online appeared first on Credit Simple.