Banker cautions against creative crooks

Branch Manager at Scotiabank Warrens, Sterl Lyons, says just as local banks are constantly doing their best to keep the funds of their customers safe, the criminal element is also persistently looking for ways to break into accounts.

He told The Barbados Advocate that it is virtually impossible to completely get away from acts such as skimming, but assured that Scotiabank’s approach is, wherever it is identified, customers are refunded.
Lyons stated that it is the bank’s goal to mitigate these threats and noted that vigilance on the part of the bank and customers is paramount. “We tend to intermittently do a check with customers, ask for the last transaction, but customers definitely have to be vigilant, it is their accounts and try to be aware of the scams. They must make sure the right amounts are coming off…a very important step in the process,” he advised.

The bank manager warned: “Just as we are coming up with new technologies to make things convenient for our customers, there are also the bad guys coming up with new technologies to make sure that our customers are cheated.

“All we can do to represent our customers well is where we are aware of it, we make sure we mitigate that risk associated, so we have a plan to address that.

“Some of the technology we put in place recently to help curb it is the chip and pin. Prior to that, the information on that card was on a magnetic strip alone. The crooks figured out ways to take that information off and that created a bit of a challenge so we started to get to technology - the chip which is a computer chip embedded in the car that provides a different level of security.

“So as time goes on things will change. There will be more levels to come. And there will be more creative guys figuring out ways to break it. But that is the nature of things,” he lamented. (JH)