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Warning: Banking on Mobile Devices

geeme

geeme

One of my friends is a federal auditor, and she told me there is a trojan going around the US banking system right now. This includes both banks and credit unions. It started overseas, but hit this country via the west coast. It impacts banking transactions done on mobile devices - smart phones, etc. - but not regular computers. Basically, don't do any online banking using your mobile device(s) until your bank or credit union advises that it's clear for you to do so.
 
There seems to be some kind of standoff between our "darling" government and banks, regarding who should be telling consumers about this. The result is that most people have not been informed about it. Please help make others aware of this. 
 
Figures, Our Gov would just wait til catastrophe hits so they can come to the rescue with some new form of PROGRAM that everyone has to sign up for.
 
Thx for the warning.
 
Thanks for the head's up, geeme. 
 
I will get more info from my friend today and post it here. I was traveling and participating in two different swim meets this weekend, so I wasn't able to get all the details from her. She did say something about maybe getting a notice from your bank that something hasn't gone through - if you receive such a notice, call your bank and ask if they actually initiated that notice or not. Most likely your bank will not notify you of issues that way. As soon as I have more info, I'll let you guys know.
 
I've been googling the crap out of this for 15 mins and have found nothing.

While I get that the US might be covering something up, the Internets aren't localized. I would think that someone outside of this topic would be talking about this.

Might your friend be messing with you?
Ok I found this one:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2362980/russian-mobile-banking-trojan-gets-ransomware-features-starts-targeting-us-users.html

But it seems less dangerous than your description, as it doesn't do any of the things you describe.
 
If you guys want the real story you can find some information here. It is a not so new problem to be honest. 
 
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2362980/russian-mobile-banking-trojan-gets-ransomware-features-starts-targeting-us-users.html

Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
I've been googling the crap out of this for 15 mins and have found nothing.

While I get that the US might be covering something up, the Internets aren't localized. I would think that someone outside of this topic would be talking about this.

Might your friend be messing with you?
Ok I found this one:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2362980/russian-mobile-banking-trojan-gets-ransomware-features-starts-targeting-us-users.html

But it seems less dangerous than your description, as it doesn't do any of the things you describe.
Click to expand...
Lol, didn't see you posted that. There was a huge feature on the news last week all about the ransom of your PC and billions has already been paid to the hacked with bit coin and such. FBI is having a hard time back-tracing this one...
 
As someone who knows a fair bit about computers, just because they say they have a hard time tracing it, doesn't mean they're trying to cover anything up. Just trying to shed light on the issue at large, not singling anyone out. Because computers have limitations on them, anyone who knows what they're doing can give the FBI trouble. The feds are just normal people working on a big budget, not superhuman hacking machines.
 
cruzzfish said:
As someone who knows a fair bit about computers, just because they say they have a hard time tracing it, doesn't mean they're trying to cover anything up. Just trying to shed light on the issue at large, not singling anyone out. Because computers have limitations on them, anyone who knows what they're doing can give the FBI trouble. The feds are just normal people working on a big budget, not superhuman hacking machines.
Click to expand...
As someone who has 15 years in corporate banking in the technology space, I was providing a replay of what I heard the FBI say ;) I do not claim to know first hand and did not claim a cover-up. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, this one is making billions for hackers.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
As someone who has 15 years in corporate banking in the technology space, I was providing a replay of what I heard the FBI say ;) I do not claim to know first hand and did not claim a cover-up.
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Never said anyone was. I just wanted to make sure, knowing political leanings on this site, that no one went through here and started complaining about "those damn feds". And yeah, the hackers are making a lot. Not that it's going to help them when they get caught.
 
I was going to comment and then deleted. I knew if I called "shenanigans" someone would end up losing money after using a mobile device and say I was wrong.

I am sure there are key loggers on android devices, I'm also sure that some cheap mobile devices come with Trojan horses pre-installed. Couple that with url spoofing and sim hacking and there is a real risk out there. People are scared of new technology and so people will gravitate towards urban legends about the tech or they will over-state the risk. Mobile banking is probably the safest banking there is.

There is a greater risk on your computer. There are more people trying to hack wifi than cellular. There are more Trojan horses and key loggers for computers. For every one Trojan horse for mobile devices there are 10 for your computer.

So what should you do? Carry fat wads of cash? Lost cash has no recourse once it is gone it is gone. If anyone knows you carrry lots of cash consider yourself robbed. If that is all that happens be thankfull.

Ahh but checks are safer right? Nope check washing works just as well today as it did 30 years ago.

Credit cards? Nope. If I steal your phone I need to know passwords. I steal your credit cards I can go crazy and if I know what I am doing I can do it for days. ... I don't even need your credit card. I can buy the info online from that cute waitress who had a card reader. You won't know I have a counterfeit card. Counterfeiting a phone with the apps and with the passwords is about impossible.

Have you noticed banks now have another layer of protection if you try to access your account on a new device? Be smart, have a couple of accounts use passwords as much as possible. Be aware when you can lose money (some debit) be aware when you have protection (some credit). When banks ask you for more security checks smile and spend the 30 seconds to add them to your accountt.
 
Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
Might your friend be messing with you?
Click to expand...
No. This is not the type of thing she would mess around with. 
 
I should have the opportunity to speak further with her tonight, after which I will post more. My apologies for only having spotty info at this time, but we only had a very brief convo about it.
 
Lastpass.
Free, but you can use it on all your connected devices for 12$ a year.
Also includes a password generator. Everyone should change passwords, and not share them across sites on a regular basis.
 
Sorry I didn't make it back here earlier. I finally reconnected with my friend and found she has been traveling and does not have the info with her. She will let me know the details when she returns later this week, and I will post then.
 
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