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The FBI works to stay on top of the latest cyber-crimes that can seriously affect consumers and their private information, including finances. Earlier this month, the FBI issued a press release outlining a trend in online crimes against consumers and businesses.

The FBI’s press releases states “Within the last several months, the FBI has seen a significant increase in fraud involving the exploitation of valid online banking credentials belonging to small and medium businesses, municipal governments, and school districts. In a typical scenario, the targeted entity receives a “spear phishing” e-mail which either contains an infected attachment, or directs the recipient to an infected website. Once the recipient opens the attachment or visits the website, malware is installed on their computer. The malware contains a key logger which will harvest each recipient’s business or corporate bank account login information. Shortly thereafter, the perpetrator either creates another user account with the stolen login information or directly initiates funds transfers by masquerading as the legitimate user. These transfers have occurred as both traditional wire transfers and as ACH transfers.”

The money that is transferred from one account is typically then moved into the accounts of others in the know but often into the accounts of the unsuspecting. Criminals who are looking to transfer funds into an account will often use work-at-home propositions to lure individuals into doing the crime for them. The job advertisements are often planted on respected job boards. The general idea of the job entails processing payments for a company. The job seekers agree to receive wire transfers into their own bank accounts and then forward the stolen money to accounts oversees using services like Western Union.

The FBI advises consumers to keep their computers updates with anti-virus software and install a personal firewall. Consumers can visit this website to learn more about the proper software and prevention measures that can be taken to prevent risk. It may also be beneficial to speak directly with your bank about precautions and security measures needed when conducting banking online.

Consumers are also advised to report suspicious activities involving their bank accounts to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. Consumers who have been solicited to work at home on jobs that require transferring funds or sending money overseas should also file a complaint with the center.