Fraudsters are constantly trying to obtain passwords and other confidential data from consumers. Especially in connection with financial transactions, there are regular reports of phishing attempts or malware that spies on personal information. Here you can find out how to recognise fraudulent attempts and protect yourself against them - increase your own security by following these nine principles.
- Recognise fraudulent emails. Messages that purport to come from your bank, for example, and are written in poor German or English are a strong indication that it could be a fraud attempt. The same applies to messages in which the sender presents a matter to you as particularly urgent or supposedly contains secret information.
- Do not click on links in suspicious emails or in messages whose sender you cannot clearly identify as legitimate. You may be able to recognise suspicious links if you hover over them with the mouse: Mouse-over often shows the address to which the link leads. If the link shows an unidentifiable page or not clearly the official page of the company whose offer you are using, do not click on it under any circumstances.
- Do not open any email attachments from unknown senders. Malicious software is often spread via email attachments in various file formats. Do not open attachments in unexpected emails from supposedly trustworthy senders. If in doubt, ask in a new e-mail to the sender - not in a reply to the message received.
Further information on how to recognise fake and malicious emails can be found on the website of the German Federal Office for Information Security.
- Do not reply to dubious messages. If you want to verify whether an email actually comes from a trustworthy sender, ask them. Either open a new email and enter a known email address of the sender yourself or contact the sender by other means, for example by telephone.
- Do not share your access credentials with anyone. Access details, such as your personal password, are the most important protection for user accounts, for example your account with Scalable Capital. Do not provide your login details even if you are asked to do so by email or phone call. Scalable Capital will never ask you for your password by email or call you to ask for this information. If you receive such a request, do not respond to it and call back on a known Scalable Capital telephone number.
- Keep your operating system, virus protection and other software up to date. Always install any updates offered for the operating system of your computer or mobile device and regularly check that it is up to date. Use an up-to-date virus scanner and, ideally, a firewall to prevent unauthorised data exchange between your computer and the Internet. Use the latest available version of well-known browsers for surfing.
- Apps: Use the latest version from a secure source. If you use apps, such as the Scalable Capital app for Android or iOS, only download them from the official app stores. Always use the latest version.
- Surf safely. Try to avoid using a public WLAN for confidential business on your mobile device, including transactions relating to money and investments. Instead use your device's mobile data connection. At home, you can use your secure home Wi-Fi.
- Assign a strong and personalised password. The following applies to all access points: Assign strong passwords that are not easy to guess and consist of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. Do not use passwords more than once. Assign a separate password for different user accounts or different services. If you change passwords, do not reuse previous passwords, but choose a new password.
There will probably never be one hundred percent protection against fraudulent attacks in both analogue and digital life. However, if you follow the tips mentioned above; with minimal effort you can significantly increase your own security when investing online..
