Warning - Be on the lookout for crooks sinking their digital paws into your brokerage account.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority recently issued an investor alert to guard your account against hackers after it said it received "an increasing number of reports" of stolen customer funds.
FINRA, the self-regulatory organization of the brokerage industry, said the thefts occurred "as a result of instructions emailed to firms from customer email accounts that have been compromised."
"These incidents highlight some of the risks associated with accepting instructions to transmit or withdraw funds via email," the organization said.
Brokerage firms are obligated to safeguard your personal financial information, "but even the best procedures cannot prevent all instances of identity theft, especially if the vulnerability lies with you, the customer," FINRA said.
To protect yourself:
Guard your passwords and PINs and don't store them on your computer. Change your passwords and PINs regularly and use different ones for each of your accounts. Always use passwords and PINs that have numbers and letters or symbols.
Make sure your computer has up-to-date security software, including security patches; that the software is configured for automatic updates; and that the software is always turned on.
For laptops, be sure to use encryption software. Computer hardware and software providers also maintain security pages on their websites with tips for checking and improving the security of your system.
Don't use public computers to access your brokerage account.
"Public computers may contain software that captures passwords and PINs, providing that information to others at your expense," FINRA said. "If you do use another computer, be sure to delete your 'temporary Internet files' or 'cache' and clear all of your 'history' after you log off your account."
Check your computer occasionally to make sure no one has attached any device or added programs without your knowledge.
Always log out of your brokerage account completely when you finish.
Don't respond to emails requesting personal information. Legitimate companies will not ask you to provide or verify sensitive information through email.
If your financial institution actually needs personal information from you or your statement, call the company yourself, using the number in your files or on your statement, not the one the email provides. Don't respond to emails seeking your password, PIN or other personal information.
Read your monthly account statements thoroughly as soon as they arrive to make sure you actually authorized all the transactions.
If you detect unauthorized transactions in or withdrawals from your brokerage account, ask the firm to investigate.
If you think your personal information has been stolen, immediately contact your brokerage firm and other financial institutions, including credit card issuers, to notify them of the problem. You should also notify the credit bureaus to put a fraud alert on your file.
"Tell-tale signs that you've been the victim of an email account intrusion include reports of spam from people in your contacts folder or a slew of bounced email messages from people you don't know," FINRA said. "You might find that your password or other account settings have been changed or that your email provider has blocked you from accessing your account."
You can't afford to take your eye off your account. The fraudsters certainly won't.
