Computer help: How vulnerable am I??
How vulnerable am I??
by musicman707 - 10/21/08 10:27 AMThis morning without thinking my dad sent my bank routing info and account number to me via e-mail. I've heard there are "robots" in cyberspace whose sole purpose is to intercept info in e-mails for nefarious purposes. I'm wondering how likely it is that my banking info might have been intercepted in this way and how vulnerable I am to having it stolen?
Also, I have a webmail account, so I assume that when the info came to my account in the e-mail it just sat there on the server. The webmail I use is not secure to my knowledge. I deleted the e-mail as soon as I received it. But I'm wondering how vulnerable that information is there, too.
Dad's e-mail uses Outlook and so is stored on his computer rather than in cyberspace, so I assume the risk there is minimal. I just asked him to delete the e-mail from his sentbox and the info from his hard drive.
Any recommendations? Should I go to my bank and close out the account and open a new one? Is the risk of having the info stolen that high?
Ouch.
by R. Proffitt
- 10/21/08 10:32 AM
In reply to: How vulnerable am I?? by musicman707
Putting it all in one email is just a bad idea. While I do get emails that "your account ending in 1234 " and I have no problem with that, supplying the full detail is just a bad idea.
Get whatever you need done and then go to the bank and kill that account.
Bob
That's what I was afraid of!
by musicman707 - 10/21/08 10:35 AM In reply to: Ouch. by R. Proffitt
Thanks for the advice, Bob.
Let's Not Panic
by jcbowen - 10/24/08 7:55 PM In reply to: How vulnerable am I?? by musicman707First, it is very unlikely that this information has been intercepted and will be used for fraud. Possible, yes, but very unlikely. For one thing you can't just write a robot program that will read email traveling through cyberspace the way you can write a robot that can troll through web sites. To intercept email you have to have physical access to the cable the data is traveling on - not an easy thing unless you work at an ISP, are highly technical, and willing to risk going to jail. Slightly more likely that it could be stolen from a compromised web mail server, but still not a high probability, especially since it wasn't there long. (Although how long it hangs around in some form after deletion is anyone's guess.)
Second, even if someone did get the numbers and use them to take money from your account, at least in the U.S. and Britain you are 100% protected from such fraud. You will always get your money back when you report the fraud to your bank (if you don't wait forever to report it.) Some hassle involved at this point, sure, but it's still very low probability and probably no more hassle than closing your account and opening a new one.
Third, every check has the account number and routing number printed on it for all to see. Maybe you don't write checks anymore, but millions of them still circulate every day, and you don't read about huge amounts of fraud from people stealing the numbers off checks.
Finally, it's certainly a good idea not to put this kind of info an a single email, but only because there's a very tiny risk it could lead to fraudulent use of the data. Personally, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
Thanks for the reply.
by musicman707 - 10/24/08 8:20 PM In reply to: Let's Not Panic by jcbowenIt's helpful to have more insight into the actual possibilities in the situation. Since I posted this earlier in the week, I've already closed the account and opened a new one. But this will be helpful to know for future reference.
Use caution,
by Dango517 - 10/25/08 12:32 AM In reply to: How vulnerable am I?? by musicman707the Internet and your PC are great big sponges filled with holes that the bad guys can use to abuse you. Of course this risk is yours but I'd error on the side of caution. Never under estimate the diabolical mind.
Here's an example: Do you know that hackers can enter through your Web cam, enable the audio portion and simply by listening can retrieve your private data as your typing away on the key board? ( I'm glad I make loads of typos 
) If they're capable of doing this what else might they be up to?
Be careful out there.
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