Tragedy however struck when her bank account got compromised and the money sent to her account got wiped or, should I say, transferred to an unknown account. Little did I say that my aunt is not well learned but has enough to make withdrawals and deposits from her account. When I called to make an order for some snacks, she lamented how her account was under raid and any money that enters into it gets wiped out. Her oldest sister also suffered a similar fate, and the worrisome situation was that the recipient account from both accounts was the same. My opinion was that the culprit was a family member and preyed on my aunt and cousin's level of education.
My first and quick step was to ask them to get their accounts blocked rather than be at the mercy of the culprits. Unfortunately, going to the bank was unproductive as the long queues during the festive period discouraged them, coupled with the limited branches in the community. I called a few friends that work in both banks, and thankfully, their accounts were blocked from being debited. I was however reliably informed that one of the victims (my cousin) had her mobile app accessed by the culprit and had her account emptied. This further convinced me that the culprit was within the family, but since I was far away and unfamiliar with the household, I could not investigate who it was.
My aunt and cousin had to visit their banks much later to unblock their accounts after they had their passwords changed. Unfortunately, the culprit was not yet found, and they stood at risk of repeat attacks. As much as I would have advised for more sophisticated security on both of their phones and accounts, this could put them at risk of forgetting their passwords. Just like many elderly folks and those that have limited literacy who used simple passwords like their years of birth, my aunt was in similar shoes, and I had to ensure she used a different combination of keys. And rather than write their passwords on a piece of paper, I encouraged them to save it with my mom pending when they were conversant with their passwords.
The predator yet remains at large, but rather than be at his mercy, we had to work a way around it. I wish they could have 2FA authentication, but that would be more difficult for them to operate based on their literacy, except for my cousin, who used an Android phone.
My younger sister equally had some money wiped off from her account, and she had to initiate a blockade immediately. Thus, anyone could have their accounts compromised, and some steps are vital to improving cyber security. Some include:
- use of different passwords for emails and applications
- use of strong passwords with 2FA authentication
- use of bunny accounts for airdrops and trading.
- saving passwords offline rather than on phone applications such as WhatsApp or email.
- declining to continue conversations with strange or unknown callers.
- not clicking suspicious sites or exercising caution with seemingly easy tasks
- limited use of free WiFi from organizations e.t.c.
With the few above and many more, we need to be mentally alert and careful with sharing out passwords, pass keys, pass phrases, etc.
Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.