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oday’s cyber-robbers skip the tellers and prey on unwitting
Thieves acquired my personal bank information, printed fake paper checks, and tried to pass $8,000 worth of them. While I consider myself a fairly sophisticated person – I’ve been covering fraud as a journalist for decades – the irony of becoming a victim showed how persistent and multilayered thievery is today. I thought I was savvy on what not to do. I didn’t include any account references or numbers in my e-mails. I didn’t put them in texts. I upgraded my security settings on all my accounts, changed passwords and even signed up for a privacy browser (DuckDuckGo) that didn’t store my searches (highly recommended). I wasn’t responding to e-mails and clicking on links blindly. In short, I thought I was doing everything right.
ordinary account holders. Here, a veteran financial journalist explains how it happened to him. In less cybernetic times, bank robbers “knocked over” banks with tommy guns and drove off with the loot. Now, thieves are more likely to silently steal your personal information in indirect (often online) modes before they pilfer
actual dollars. I know this firsthand because it happened to me.
HELD UP WITHOUT A GUN
American Consequences
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