How to Protect Yourself from Transfer Fraud! Antivirus

Not Only online banking is risky: transfer fraud with forged signatures is also Increasing. How do the fraudsters work - and what are the consequences for You?

 

At a glance:

·         Transfer fraud: the number of cases increases, the clearance rate decreases.
·         Procedure: The perpetrators forge signatures on transfer forms, throw them in, and hope that the bank will not notice it. The chances of this are good, as the banks only control such transfers in exceptional cases.
·         Liability: If the bank has not checked, it is liable. Unless the signature is deceptively real.
·         Precaution: Keep the group of people who know your IBAN and your signature as small as possible. If you also limit your account space, larger amounts cannot be transferred without further ado

Transfer fraud with forged signatures is increasing. No wonder: fraudsters can act with little effort and risk. This rarely has consequences for the victims of the fraud: As a rule, credit institutions reimburse the money. As a rule, however, this also means: You shouldn't blindly rely on it.

More and more cases of paper transfer fraud

Strange development: the number of personally signed transfers is decreasing from year to year. At the same time, the number of banks and transfer fraud cases continues to increase. There were almost 28,000 cases in 2015. The clearance rate, on the other hand, is falling steadily, from almost 75 percent (2006) to just under 35 percent (2015).

Easy game: This is how the transfer fraudsters proceed.

The perpetrators do not have a particularly difficult time with transfer fraud. All you need are

·         an IBAN, i.e. the account number
·         Account Holder's Name
·         a signature

The IBAN and the name of the account holder can be picked up on many occasions: on business papers, in the waste paper of a company, in the trash next to the bank statement printer, and sometimes even on the company website. The only thing missing is the signature, and that is the least of the hurdles: this is precisely where the banks often don't look too closely. An opportunity for fraudsters, but also the reason that the banks are usually liable.

Why don't the banks notice anything?

There are several reasons why the banks do not notice anything. For one thing, the perpetrators do not hand in the fake transfers in person at the bank branch, but send them by post or drop them directly at the bank. So nobody sees whether a familiar face wants to transfer something or a stranger.

On the other hand, credit institutions make it relatively easy for fraudsters: "The signatures on transfer forms are checked more and more rarely," says finance expert Carl-Dietrich Sander from the Federal Association of SME Consultants.

·         Automatic transfers: Many banks work with disposition exemption limits to make work easier. They automatically transfer amounts below this limit without checking the signature.
·         Control without detailed knowledge: a transfer amount is unusually high for this account holder? The money is to be transferred to a Chinese account, from an account from which only suppliers from the region are otherwise paid? Even if a bank employee checks the transfer, unusual occurrences are not automatically noticed. The reason: the larger the bank, the more likely the controlling employee does not know the account holder personally. The banker only checks whether the transfer is covered. “The smaller the bank, the greater the chance that unusual transfers will attract attention and lead to inquiries,” says Sander. But that is not a guarantee either, as a current case shows.

Who is liable for transfer fraud?

Credit institutions seem to consciously accept possible damage from transfer fraud. Because the money is usually gone. A transfer can only be recalled if the money is still in the third-party account. Most fraudulent transfers end up in some foreign accounts and are quickly withdrawn there.

And what happens then?

·         As a rule, the banks pay: Usually, the banks have to pay for the damage. Because you are obliged to check the signature on the transfer. “Banks are usually insured against damage caused by fraud,” reports financing expert Carl-Dietrich-Sander. As a rule, there is a deductible, which the bank then takes on. “The customer does not suffer any damage,” says Sander.

·         Exception: However, this regulation does not offer bank customers one hundred percent protection. In some cases, banks have already refused to pay compensation if the forged signature looked particularly genuine and would not have been noticed in a signature comparison.
·         Exception: However, this regulation does not offer bank customers one hundred percent protection. In some cases, banks have already refused to pay compensation if the forged signature looked particularly genuine and would not have been noticed in a signature comparison. For this reason, for example, the Dessau regional court ruled in favor of a bank; the customer did not get any money back.
·         It is important to log all discussions on the case so that detailed information can still be provided to the bank and the law enforcement authorities after a while.

3 tips: this is how craftsmen can protect themselves!

It is all the more important to protect yourself against transfer fraud. Financing expert Sander advises:

1. Limit information:

·         Keep the group of people who know your IBAN and your signature as small as possible.
·         Do not publish your IBAN and original signature on your website.
·         Do not print your IBAN in all business papers, only specifically in invoices.
·         Caution when disposing of documents: Do not dispose of business documents in the waste paper bin without shredding, not even papers with your signature. And bank statements or account status displays don't belong in your bank's trash.

·         Use Protegent360's antivirus for data protection.

2. 2.  Limit Account Scope:

Do not leave too high amounts of credit on your business's current account. Move this to a call money account. Unfortunately, this is not so easy with account management within the framework of an agreed current account credit line - the unused credit line is the "leeway" for transfer fraudsters.

3. Make a complaint in any case:

Sander advises that you should report any transfer fraud directly to the police. Even if many proceedings are closed later because the perpetrators cannot be identified - one should still try.