Recognizing & Combatting Cybercrime
There are steps you can take to help protect yourself from cybercriminals looking to take your money and personal information.
Help Protect Yourself from Cybercriminals
Cybercriminals are after your money. To gain access to bank accounts and credits card, Cybercriminals are using clever schemes to defraud millions of people every year. They often combine new technology with old tricks to coerce people into sending money and providing sensitive personal information.
You can take steps to protect yourself from Cybercriminals seeking your money and personal information.
- Spot imposters.听Cybercriminals pretend to be someone you trust, like a government official or a company you do business with like your bank or internet service provider. Don鈥檛 send money or give out personal information in response to an unexpected request 鈥 whether it comes as a text, a phone call or an email. If you believe it may be a legitimate request, contact the requestor directly to confirm the request.
- Do online searches.听Type a company or product name into your favorite search engine with words like 鈥渞eview鈥, 鈥渃omplaint鈥 or 鈥渟cam.鈥 Or search for a phrase that describes your situation, like 鈥淚RS call.鈥 You can even search for phone numbers to see if other people have reported them as scams.
- Don鈥檛 believe your caller ID.听Technology makes it easy for Cybercriminals to fake caller ID information, so the name and number you see aren鈥檛 always real. If someone calls asking for money or personal information, do not respond. Instead, if you believe it may be a legitimate request, contact the requestor directly to confirm the request.
- Hang up on robocalls.听If you answer the phone and hear a recorded sales pitch, hang up. These calls are illegal, and often the products are bogus. Don鈥檛 press 1 to speak to a person or to be taken off the list. That could lead to more calls.
- Don鈥檛 deposit a check and wire money back.听M&T is required to make funds available from check deposits within days; however, the availability of funds does not guarantee a check鈥檚 authenticity. Therefore, be cautious of any demands requesting urgent or immediate action and always wait an extended period of time before accessing funds from unfamiliar check deposits.