Banks Tighten Web Security

Banks tighten Web security to help keep thieves out of accounts

Banks has tighten the web security to help keep thieves out of accounts.The Community bank has been the target of so-called "phishing" e-mails in which crooks posing as the bank promise a $50 reward to people willing to answer a five-question survey. To receive the bogus reward, participants are instructed to type in their online access ID, password, debit card number and other confidential data.At the same time, a computerized telephone campaign run by anonymous thieves was contacting people in West Bend - on the likely chance it would connect with West Bend Savings Bank customers - to falsely warn of fraudulent activity in their account and ask them to call a special number to verify private financial information."They will want you to give your credit or debit card number, and if you do that, they will ask for your PIN; or for a credit card, ask for the three numbers on the back," said Rick Larson, the bank's chief operating officer. "The moment you do that, they are going on a spending spree."The good news is that as frustrating as it sometimes is for banks to protect consumers from Internet and telephone predators, they are achieving some success at keeping them out of consumers' online bank accounts.Under pressure from regulators, banks and credit unions have been making it more difficult for thieves to gain access to online bank accounts. That's important because about 40% of U.S. households now do some banking over the Internet, according to Celent, a Boston-based technology research firm.