Banking On Your Mobile Phone

[Hymie]

You may not be aware, but crims can steal your phone (out of your hand) in an unlocked state, and then use the banking app on the phone to steal all the money in your bank accounts.

Radio 4’s Money Box programme has been covering this issue for some time.

One of the things they reported was that all who had had money stolen by this method, no longer used mobile banking.

Banking on a full size laptop screen is hard enough to ensure that you have not logged on to a fake website, I’d never use mobile phone banking – which would make it all too easy for crims to take all my money.

I’d advise you do the same, unless you are happy to lose all your money.

[barry1010]

Agreed, Maydup. I had my pay packet snatched at of my pocket decades ago when I was a few weeks in to my first job. It still rankles 

[Hymie]

Deskdiary said// "Banking on a full size laptop screen is hard enough to ensure you have not logged on to a fake website..." if you're stupid.//

 

All it takes is one character in the browser address to be wrong, and you could find yourself on a copycat website that even the most discerning could not distinguish from the real thing.

 

On a laptop, that browser address is lettering is only around 4mm in height – on most mobiles it will be significantly less (and likely that the incorrect character is something like the figure 1 (one) rather than an l (lower case L) in the address – making it almost impossible to spot).

[Hymie]

Deskdiary – once the crim sees you typing in ‘Mary had a’ they can guess the rest.

[barry1010]

All I do to log in to my bank on my mobile is tap the app to open it and use my fingerprint.

No squinting and sweating over web  addresses

[Hymie]

They might even be videoing you entering your password, using their mobile.

[barry1010]

But I don't enter my password!

[Hymie]

I would not put it past the crims to threaten you with violence, unless you swiped your finger over the screen, or even chop your finger-tip off – after all, it is nothing to them.

[Deskdiary]

Ah, OK, so you've now pivoted and have entered the world of fantasy.

[Hopkirk]

Absolute b*******

 

If you grabbed my phone unlocked you couldn't get into my banking app. Not unless you took my thumb at the same time.

[Arksided]

...and we all know where you keep that Hoppy... 

trust me that's quite safe😉

[Hopkirk]

They might come equipped with hand sanitiser gel though.

[Arksided]

Why what do you keep in your pocket... I don't want to know. 👍

[Deskdiary]

Hymie is easily influenced by media scare stories. We've seen it from him before.

 

Fortunately, most of us are grown-ups who are not so easily influenced.

[Hymie]

It’s in the Daily Mail, so it must be true.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9553891/Man-says-uses-SEVERED-FINGER-unlock-phone.html

[DDIL]

Good morning,

interesting but flawed question and unfortunately the story provides no back up to your claim.

[newmodarmy]

//Banking on a full size laptop screen is hard enough to ensure that you have not logged on to a fake website//

I have my bank  saved as favourite  on my laptop. Even when I log in using all the passwords etc they still text a verification code to my phone /tell me to open the app.

[davebro3]

I do all my regular banking on phone apps with fingerprint access - it's quick, easy and as secure as any other way IMV. Hymie is scare-mongering.

[barry1010]

That DM report is about a man who used his own severed finger to unlock his phone - not about a man walking round with a bolt cutter on the off chance he can steal a phone and chop the owner's finger off.

[Old_Geezer]

Not being a criminal I don't allow my fingerprints to be taken. The apps work without that, and if they're insecure then that's the bank's fault. It presently needs a 6 digit PIN to log in, which should give time to contact the bank and stop activity.

 

Obviously additional security would be better but this isn't under the user's control, plus these apps need to be usable to be worthwhile.

 

I am not always near my desktop PC so I think any risk is likely to be small enough not to dispense with it; besides, as mentioned, it's the bank's app, they must be held responsible for their own systems.

[barry1010]

OG, the only place your fingerprint is stored is on the device.  If I tried to access my bank account on a device that hasn't stored my fingerprint, it wouldn't work.  Nobody, not even the bank, can access my stored fingerprint.