10 Security Tips to Safeguard Your Hard-earned Money from Fraudsters

Fraudsters or scammers are working tirelessly every day to get personal and bank account details of people so as to gain access to their savings.

It is everyone’s responsibility to secure his or her own account(s) from being hacked or scammed.

The rate of economic insecurity keeps increasing on a daily basis due to the high level of inflation on the prices of goods and services, job insecurity, lack of basic psychological needs, lack of individual financial stability, and high unemployment or underemployment rates in Nigeria and other countries.

In light of the recent alarming rate of fraudulent financial activities resulting from the economic insecurity in this country and beyond, this well-researched post is purposely written to share ten (10) security tips our readers can adopt, to safeguard their hard-earned money from the fraudsters, in order to curb its negative effect on the populace.

Personal observations from most of the fraudulent financial scenarios have shown that the victims of fraudsters or scammers are being charmed with mouth-watering offers, too-good-to-be-true assistance, fake customer-service representation, and unexpected, exciting giveaways to deceive their targets.

Below is a compilation of ten (10) security tips to safeguard your hard-earned money from fraudsters:

#1.  Set Strong PASSWORDs and Difficult-to-Decode PINs

Make all your passwords stronger and more difficult for fraudsters to hack by using a complex combination of digits (0 – 9), capital letters (A – Z), lowercase letters (a – z) and symbols (*, #, &, etc.).

The length of your password should be at least eight (8) characters including digits, capital and small letters.

Fraudsters always try as much as possible to decode the PINs of their victims by using the date of birth (day, month, and year) and phone number (the first or last phone number digits) as trial PINs.

Therefore, you should stop using your birth date’s DDMM (e.g. 1012) or birth YEAR (e.g. 1981) as your PINs. You can use a memorable special date known to you personally or something that will not be easy for the scammers to think of and get access to your bank account money.

#2.  Keep Your OTPs, PINs, and PASSWORDs Secret

OTPs, PINs, and PASSWORDs are the keys to your hard-earned money or funds; never share or give your verification OTPs, payment PINs, or login PASSWORDS to anyone.

Kindly forget how close the person asking for your OTP, PIN, and PASSWORD may be to you; those keys are personal stuff, so keep them secret to yourself alone.

“DO NOT disclose your OTPs, PINs, and PASSWORDs to other people,” regardless of your relationship, level of trust, or intimacy with such people.

Your account information is private, and should be kept secret by all means.

Similarly, your login credentials, debit or credit card details are not something to disclose to anyone around you. 

#3.  Consider Your Options Before Acting

Before you take any action based on data or information gathered offline and online, via social media apps, phone calls, or text messages, endeavour to think through the possible outcomes and real reasons for what you are planning to do.

So, don’t ever let a temporary moment of pleasure, excitement, or unconfirmed promises lure you into a decision that could leave you with a lifetime of pain, regret, and financial losses.

Always consider your options before making any financial decisions.

Be auspicious; don’t be too fast in making decision.

#4.  Block Unwanted Calls, Emails and Text Messages

Fraudsters are fond of sending repeated messages to their targets, or calling the phone numbers of people they don’t know to test their fake luck and fortune.

So, don't pay attention to unknown phone calls or phishing messages received from people who aren't in your personal contacts, you don't remember knowing the people in question, or they claim to be staff (or employees) of your financial institutions.

Don’t trust them; block them with immediate effect, even if they prove to know or get all your personal information and account details correctly.

It is advisable to visit any branch office of your financial institution close to you to confirm the details in the calls, emails. and text messages than being a victim.

Also, block them on all your social media apps because they will keep trying, retargeting, and pretending to know how to get you by all possible means.

So, blocking them is the best solution, which is why you have the “block feature” on your mobile phone and almost all your social media profile accounts.

#5.  Watch Out for Phishing Scams via Suspicious Links

Avoid clicking on suspicious links in emails, text messages, chats, and other social media apps like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

If you see any links you doubt, kindly contact your financial institution’s official customer support representative using the contact details, or contact form on their respective official website or app to confirm the authenticity of such information.

Please DON’T CLICK on any related suspicious links if you come across any.

Most of those links are from scammers or fraudsters, looking for unsuspecting victims. Always stay informed and be alerted. 

#6.  Protect Your Mobile and Computer Devices

To keep your mobile and computer devices secure, you have to do three (3) technical things, which are briefly explained below.

First, limit access to your mobile and computer devices by setting a PIN, Password, Pattern, or Fingerprint for your personal devices.

Second, make sure you keep “system and security software” on your mobile and computer devices updated all the time.

This will not only secure your devices but also make your mobile and computer gadgets function very well.

Third, set up security questions and answers for your account where possible or necessary via Settings.

Just make sure you use something you’ll remember when the need arises.

#7.  Don’t Download Any App via Text Message

Fraudsters are now sending text messages to known and unknown phone numbers that will look like the screenshot below: