Rotary members given tips how to safeguard bank accounts

Rotary Club of Saipan vice president Brian Clayton, who is also the president of MegaByte Saipan, explains to members how to be protected in cyber attacks made by hackers and identity thieves in their meeting yesterday at Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Giovanni’s restaurant. (Jon Perez)

Rotary Club of Saipan vice president Brian Clayton yesterday held a brief lecture on cyber safety after the recent card skimming incident that several hundreds of depositors experienced in their accounts at First Hawaiian Bank.

FHB said what happened on Monday was card skimming where unauthorized transactions took place through their automated teller machines. Skimming is a method used by thieves to steal card information usually through ATMs.

At least three Rotary Saipan members were also card skimming victims including former two-time president David Igitol and current board member Eli Stoilova.

Clayton, who is the president of MegaByte Saipan, said that it only takes one time for hackers or online thieves to get into a system and steal all the necessary information like credit card numbers, passwords, and your social security number.

He added that operating systems, whether for Windows or Apple, are vulnerable to hackers and identity thieves.

“A little bit of information helps. If you don’t have firewalls, somebody can go in and infiltrate your system,” said Clayton during the local Rotary Club’s weekly meeting at the Hyatt Regency Saipan yesterday.

He advised his fellow Rotarians to at least change their passwords every six months and don’t keep copies of it in a file in their computers so that their accounts won’t be compromised.

“Change your passwords frequently. Use passwords with more than eight characters, has upper case and lower case letters, and use symbols,” Clayton added.

“Don’t send or give out your personal information or bank account numbers to other people by email. Emails just bounce and float around from different servers before being sent.”

Clayton said there’s a lot of antivirus software and other security features online that can be downloaded for free. “There are also a lot of protection that can be done here locally.”

He added that we should also be careful in making online purchases. “There are companies that keep your credit card information so you could use it again for future purchases.”

Another precautionary measure that we could do, Clayton said, is to always check your credit scores and credit reports to see if there are questionable transactions with your accounts.

He also advised members not to respond to emails that inform you that you won hundreds of thousands of dollars or you have a long lost dead relative that wants to give you millions of dollars as inheritance.

“Never answer dubious emails. Chances are they contain malicious software or malware that can attack your computer and steal any information in your hard drive.”