False problems, the main bait to steal accounts
In many cases the cybercriminals what they do is make the victim believe that they have a problem. For example, that there is some error in her account, some change that she must make or else they could suspend her. This can lead to nervousness and the need to do something fast before something negative can happen.
For example, something common is that they send a email saying that someone has tried to enter the account and it is necessary to change the password as soon as possible. The victim, wanting to avoid trouble and act quickly, clicks on that link and makes the mistake of handing the data over to the attacker.
What really happens is that this link leads to a fake page that has been created pretending to be the bank’s website. When the victim puts in her data, she is actually sending it to a cybercriminal. It is what is known as a Phishing attack and it is a very common type of attack that continues to be successful.
Therefore, this is the main and serious mistake that we can make. Never log in to the bank through links you receive by email or SMS. It can be a trap to empty your bank account. Whenever you have questions, check directly with the bank or log in but through the official page or the legitimate program. Never enter from third party sites.
Other methods to steal bank accounts
But this strategy is not the only one they can use to steal a bank account. They can also use other methods like sneaking in a keylogger, trojan or simply using brute force to figure out the password. There is even the option of having them control your mobile to receive the authentication codes in two steps.
A keylogger what it does is record everything you put on your mobile or computer. This includes passwords as well, so they can use it to scam you. A trojan it will have the ability to spy on you and also monitor what you do on the device, so it can take control of the account.
According to the brute force, they basically take advantage of weak passwords. You should never use keys that are not 100% secure. Avoid using words or digits that relate to you, which may be easy to figure out. It’s a good idea to use completely random keys, containing letters (both uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and other special symbols. Always randomly and never repeat it elsewhere.
In short, as you can see, hackers can use a very common method such as Phishing to steal your bank account. But they can also use other strategies. It is important to avoid attacks on bank accounts and not have problems.
