Expensive, but not effective?
The cost of financial crime compliance has increased exponentially over the past few decades. In recent years, perhaps inevitably, we have seen a growing questioning of whether those efforts are paying off. The effectiveness of compliance is extremely hard to measure. At a macro level, this could potentially be seen through a tangible reduction in predicate crime offences or an increase in those facing justice for their crimes. At a financial institution level, this is arguably harder to assess – does an increase in suspicious activity reports (SARs), as one possible measure, point to a more or less effective program? The answer could be argued either way. The reality for most financial institutions producing intelligence output in the form of SARs is that there is often no feedback provided as to whether the information was useful to law enforcement or not.
The consideration of effectiveness was highlighted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global AML standard setter, in 2019, when they announced a strategic review of their country's evaluation process. Amongst the goals of the strategic review was to consider ways in which changes could be made to the FATF methodology to encourage countries to more effectively combat money laundering and terrorist financing. It was noted that the existing FATF process motivated countries to take action in order to avoid a bad report, rather than with a focus on reducing harm to society or protecting the integrity of the financial system. In other words, the focus had been on implementing a process rather than assessing outcomes.
A risk-based approach
Where resources are inevitably stretched, concentrating on risk is more likely to produce effective outcomes. The FATF strategic review was finalised in March 2022 with approval of the procedures for the fifth round of mutual evaluations, which will have a greater focus on risk to ensure that countries focus efforts on the areas where risks are highest. The next cycle of FATF evaluations will also be shorter, with a stronger follow-up process that will focus primarily on improving effectiveness.
Earlier, in March 2021, FATF had issued guidance to support countries to take a risk-based approach to supervision. Supervisors play a key role in helping regulated entities to understand the risks they face and how to mitigate them, for example by providing guidance on linking a national risk assessment to an entity’s risk assessment.
The EU’s 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) mandated that the European Commission conduct an assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks affecting the internal market and relating to cross-border activities, and to update it at least every two years. These assessments provide useful insight into identified money laundering risks which can be leveraged at a national level. The 5AMLD further mandated that Member States make the results of their risk assessments available to the European Commission and the other Member States, and to make a summary version, without classified information, publicly available.
The European Banking Authority, also in 2021, issued revised guidance regarding risk factors for money laundering and terrorist financing, addressed to both financial institutions and supervisors. The guidance sets out risk factors for financial institutions to consider with respect to customer relationships and transactions. They also note that business-wide risk assessments should be performed at least annually, and that they should consider specific sources of information, including the European Commission’s supranational risk assessment referenced above.
Information, information, information
The risk-based approach, in terms of assessing where higher risk is likely to exist (for example in a specific product, client sector or geography) and targeting those areas, undoubtedly makes sense. But what is even more effective, is the sharing of information where there is already identified criminality.
The traditional model of transaction monitoring produces vast numbers of alerts which are usually reviewed manually in order to determine whether the activity appears ‘suspicious’. A single-institution reviewing a customer’s behaviour may find it extremely difficult to make that determination of suspicion. However, the potential penalties for not filing a SAR are such that a huge number of ‘defensive’ SARs are submitted by institutions every year; the aim being to protect the institution where there is an element of doubt. However, the compliance cost of that work is significant and, far from being helpful, this can instead overwhelm under-resourced law enforcement teams with reports that have little to no value in the fight against financial crime.
Where law enforcement and financial institutions are able to collaborate, this is far more likely to produce a tangible outcome. Initiatives such as the UK’s Joint Money-Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT) allows prosecuting authorities to share live details of the subjects of an investigation with participating institutions without compromising investigations. This allows financial institutions to very quickly identify where they have information that is directly relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. Law enforcement collating data from across many banks will get a much better picture of the financial funds flows, as well as supporting information and documents provided in relation to account opening and periodic KYC checks that can significantly enhance or progress an investigation.
Legislation that is in place to protect the privacy of personal data poses challenges to information sharing, but some regulators are providing assurances regarding information sharing in the AML context. In December 2020, FinCEN published updated guidance which gave great latitude in financial institutions’ ability to share relevant information with each other under existing legislation – s.314b of the USA PATRIOT Act 2001. The guidance specified that the financial institution doesn’t need to have specific information regarding proceeds of a crime or have made a conclusive determination that the related activity is suspicious. It also stated that information on attempted transactions and information which includes personally identifiable information (PII) can be shared, and financial institutions are not restricted in their methods of sharing information, including verbally.
What financial institutions can do today
Some areas of improvement that would make financial institutions more effective in combating money laundering are not within their control, particularly the creation of complete and accurate UBO registers to facilitate KYC. However, the developments discussed in this article reveal two areas where financial institutions can and must take action: firstly, really understanding and focusing effort on areas of higher money laundering risk through conducting regular and rigorous risk assessments; and secondly, actively participating in information sharing to the fullest extent possible in their jurisdiction. We are seeing an increasing trend of both public-private partnerships and, in some areas, financial institutions sharing information directly with each other – a positive trend which is only likely to continue.
In times of increasing economic uncertainty, it’s more important than ever that your money is kept as safe as possible – whether from market tribulation or potential scammers. Here, we will explore some of the best approaches you can take to keep your well-earned cash safe and intact.
1. Banking Wisely
Step one in your quest for safer saving is to choose the repositories for your money wisely. Opening a savings account for your money can be a hugely useful way to hold and accumulate wealth, especially where higher interest rates are concerned. It is also the case that savings accounts often enjoy a higher level of protection, keeping your money safer from would-be fraudsters or cyber-criminals.
It is important that you do so with a reputable bank, though; choose a bank or building society with a high customer satisfaction rating, and ideally with a good word-of-mouth reputation. This way, you can be sure to receive quality customer service and rest assured that your savings are in the right hands.
2. Banking Safely
While choosing where you bank your money can be vital for security and peace of mind, it is just as important that you monitor your banking carefully. You should make sure to log in to your digital banking platforms on a regular basis, and to check over your bank statements to see if there are any irregularities. If there are any transactions you do not recognise, you should consult your bank immediately.
The same goes for your credit rating, which can have a profound impact on your future eligibility for loans or mortgages; scammers frequently commit identity fraud and open lines of credit in others’ names, having an adverse effect on their credit score without them knowing. Just as you check your transaction history regularly, you should also perform a regular credit check to make sure there’s nothing unexpected waiting for you.
3. General Safety Tips
Lastly, there are some general behavioural approaches you can adopt in order to ensure the safety of your money in the long run. The most important of these is the close guarding of all your banking details. You should never give out your PIN to anyone; you will not be asked to hand over or recite your PIN by any banking advisor or employee, and anyone who does ask for your PIN likely has ulterior motives.
Likewise with your account number, sort code and debit or credit card details, which you should keep close to your chest where possible. Do not write any security information on paper, and do not fill out any forms or respond to any emails regarding your banking security without verifying that they are genuinely from your lender or banking provider.
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The scam plays on an announcement by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak that the previous £200 energy bill rebate would be doubled and no longer needs to be repaid. The scam encourages people to follow a link to a fake Ofgem website and then asks them to provide personal details and set up a direct debit to receive the rebate.
Fraudsters have also been targeting consumers via email. Action Fraud says it has received around 750 reports of fake emails targeting consumers across just four days.
"The emails state that the recipient is eligible for a rebate as a result of a newly announced government scheme. The links in the emails lead to genuine-looking websites that are designed to steal your personal and financial information,” Action Fraud warns.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Congress formed several new programmes to support the millions of people who lost their jobs due to the introduction of lockdowns and the onset of economic uncertainty. These programmes, which officially ended last September, worked together to increase weekly benefits, extend their duration, and make more people eligible to receive them.
Over this period, the federal government issued nearly $873 billion in total unemployment payments, with the Labor Department also revealing that criminals were able to defraud the system due to programme weaknesses.
“The unprecedented infusion of federal funds into the UI program during the pandemic gave individuals and organized criminal groups a high-value target to exploit. That, combined with easily attainable stolen personally identifiable information and continuing UI program weaknesses identified by the OIG over the last several years, created a perfect storm that allowed criminals to defraud the system,” the agency’s report said.
“Applying the 18.71 percent to the estimated $872.5 billion in pandemic UI payments,36 at least $163 billion in pandemic UI benefits could have been paid improperly, with a significant portion attributable to fraud. Based on the OIG’s audit and investigative work, the improper payment rate for pandemic UI programs is likely higher than 18.71 percent.”
Scammers have reportedly been tricking consumers into paying significant sums through fraudulent online stores. They have been luring “desperate parents and caregivers” via fake social media profiles and websites with images of reputable formula brands. Consumers believe they’re purchasing from a brand’s official website, but the formula never arrives.
“Scammers exploiting the high demand for baby formula have sunk to new lows,” the FTC writes. “If you suspect a scam, let us know about it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Your reports help the FTC and our law enforcement partners stop scammers.”
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a significant shortage of baby formula across US stores. Current shortages have been largely caused by supply chain issues as well as a recent recall of certain baby formula products over contamination concerns.
Last week, The White House announced it would make it easier to import baby formula from overseas and would also introduce other measures.
Notably, financial criminals are evolving, with regulations also changing. This scenario has created the need for financial institutions to remain on top of their game to deter criminals in their tracks. Failure to put a solid proof financial crimes risk management system in place can be costly due to accompanying hefty fines.
Financial crime is constantly evolving, and institutions are at risk of committing compliance mistakes and struggling to meet their regulatory obligations. Some of the mistakes happen despite persistent sensitisation on curbing the vices. However, below are vital guidelines vital for mitigating financial crimes.
Leverage Technology
Detecting fraud manually can miss out on some potential flaws. For instance, organisations can leverage AML detection solutions to automate the onboarding process. Such technologies cut out instances such as false positives and repetitive tasks while allowing more time to focus on serious threats.
Ongoing Monitoring
This approach should be conducted in all business relationships and transactions, especially when a potential risk has been identified. A financial institution can use ongoing monitoring once unusual transactions outside the banking activity's regular pattern have been identified.
Regular Policy Update
An institution should commit to fine-tuning internal policies regularly. This ensures new emerging laws are embedded at every level of the business. Consider onboarding external experts to review your existing policies.
Open Communication
Employees should have an opportunity to speak up freely when they notice suspicious activities. The organisation can focus on offering employees relevant training to identify and manage financial crime threats while stressing the importance of observing the policies.
Assessing And Understanding Risks
The financial institution should conduct a comprehensive risk assessment by considering all the relevant inherent and residual risk factors. Additionally, there should be appropriate mechanisms to document and provide risk assessment information to relevant authorities and agencies such as supervisors.
Mistakes Financial Institutions Make In Handling Risks
- Avoid the risk
- Solving the risk halfway
- Failure to follow internal policy
- Failure to train internal teams
Technologies That Help In Financial Risk Management
Machine learning: This helps detect transaction patterns where the system acquires its own rules based on the data and patterns found. Notably, the technology is gaining prominence among various institutions.
Cloud computing: This technology can help manage data for aspects like performing know your customer AML activities. Cloud computing also offers other benefits, like improved risk-scoring capability.
Graph analysis: The purpose of graph analytics technology is to compare relationships between individuals. The technology deploys data analysis to show whether individuals present their true identity while engaging with a financial institution.
Automation: An institution can acquire software, primarily robots, to study human sequence while interacting with the organisation. For instance, the technology can detect unusual activity while monitoring logins, click, and copy-and-paste actions to determine any specified sequence that might call for further investigation.
Factors To Consider When Selecting A Financial Risk Management Solution
- Reliability
- Regulatory compliance features
- User-friendliness
- Security
Endnote
Financial crimes come at a cost, and there is a need to deploy various measures like state-of-the-art technology, analytics, and data management to meet compliance requirements. It is key to stay ahead of the curve to address changes more efficiently.
What Is A Ponzi Scheme?
Named after the Italian con artist Charles Ponzi, a Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud where existing investors are paid with funds from new investors. Typically, the orchestrator of a Ponzi scheme will promise to invest a person’s funds to generate higher returns with little or no risk, similar to, though not to be confused with, a pyramid scheme. However, some fraudsters don’t invest the money at all.
1. Charles Ponzi
Although the term “Ponzi scheme” took its name from fraudster Italian Charles Ponzi, the first recorded instances of this type of investment scam can be traced as far back as the mid-1880s, carried out by the likes of Adele Spitzeder in Germany and Sarah Howe in the United States.
Nonetheless, Charles Ponzi is widely thought of as the “original Ponzi scheme”. His scam centred on the postal service, at a time when it had developed international reply coupons (IRC) which allowed a person in one country to pay for the postage of a reply to a correspondent in another country. An IRC was priced at the cost of postage in the country of purchase, though could be swapped out for stamps to cover the cost of postage in the country where it was redeemed. A difference in these values would lead to a potential profit and, due to post-Great War inflation, an IRC could be bought cheaply in Italy and exchanged for US stamps of notably higher value. These stamps could then be sold on. Ponzi claimed that the net profit of these transactions worked out at over 400% — a form of arbitrage that was completely legal.
Realising the huge potential of his scheme, Ponzi left his job and committed to setting his IRC plan in motion. However, upon seeking funding, several banks rejected his application. This led Ponzi to establish a stock company to generate funds from the public, as well as to turn to several of his Boston friends. He promised to double their investment in 90 days, a promise which he later shortened to 45 days at 50% interest.
At the end of 1919, Ponzi founded the Securities Exchange Company in Massachusetts to promote his IRC scheme. Within a month, 18 investors put a total of $1,800 into his company. The investors were paid the next month, with money Ponzi secured from his next set of investors. Over time, Ponzi’s business expanded and he began to hire agents to seek out new investors across New England and New Jersey.
Ironically, three-quarters of Boston’s police officers were said to have invested in Ponzi’s scheme. Meanwhile, a banker from Kansas put down $10,000. In late July 1920, Ponzi raked in an impressive $1 million in a single day and, according to Smithsonian Magazine, he generated an estimated $15 million in eight months. While this figure may seem small compared with larger modern-day scams, what’s particularly impressive about Charles Ponzi’s scheme is the sheer speed with which he made his millions.
2. Bernard Madoff
Bernard Madoff, or “Bernie Madoff”, was an American financier who executed the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Thousands of investors were defrauded out of approximately $64.8 billion over the course of at least 17 years by Madoff, who died in prison in April 2021 while serving a 150-year sentence for money laundering, securities fraud, and several other felonies.
In 1960, Madoff established his firm Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities, which soon enough became one of the largest market makers and was investigated on eight occasions by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over its exceptional returns. However, it was the global recession of 2008 that led to Madoff’s demise when investors tried to withdraw approximately $7 billion from his funds. It soon became clear that this was a figure Madoff did not have.
Those defrauded by Madoff included actor Kevin Bacon, film director Steven Spielberg’s charitable foundation Wunderkinder, and professional baseball player Sandy Koufax. Banks were also affected, including HSBC Holdings, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Japan’s Nomura Holdings. Ordinary people were also victims of Madoff’s fraud.
In court, Madoff said that when he began the scheme in the 1990s, he had only planned to continue it for a limited period. He pleaded guilty in March 2009, saying: “I am painfully aware that I have deeply hurt many, many people, including the members of my family, my closest friends, business associates and the thousands of clients who gave me their money. I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done.”
3. Lou Pearlman
Lou Pearlman was an American record producer, who was at his height of fame in the 1990s after launching two of the most popular boy bands, the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. However, what the public failed to realise at the time was that Pearlman had also launched a Ponzi scheme. For around two decades, Pearlman would convince banks and everyday people to invest in companies that were entirely fabricated.
After NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys proved to be global success stories, investors quickly became keen to share in the wealth the American producer had created for himself. This opened up an all too easy opportunity for Pearlman. He began working as a con artist, encouraging keen investors to buy into Trans Continental Airlines Travel Services Inc and Trans Continental Airlines Inc — two entirely fabricated companies that existed only on paper.
It wasn’t until 2007 that Pearlman finally came under investigation. Originally, he told Florida state officials that the money was invested into a company called “Germany Savings”. However, unable to locate the company, Florida state officials began searching for the accounting firm that handled Pearlman’s financial statements. Officials traced the records to two separate addresses — one in South Florida, where no such firm appeared to exist, and the one that shared the same address as “German Savings”. It was revealed that this second address was linked to a remote answering service, paid for by investors.
Having swindled $300 million from banks and investors, Pearlman pleaded guilty in 2008, charged with conspiracy, money laundering, and false bankruptcy proceedings. He was given 25 years in prison but died in federal custody in 2016.
According to Chainalysis, stolen funds made up 93% of all criminal balances at $9.8 billion in 2021. Darknet market funds came in at $448 million, while scams totalled at $192 million, fraud shops at $66 million, and ransomware at $30 million.
In its crypto crime report, Chainalysis also stated that more than 4,000 criminal whales have a total of $25 billion worth of crypto as a group. Chainanalysis defines a criminal whale as a private wallet with at least $1 million of crypto that has received over 10% of its funds from illicit addresses.
2021 is now the highest year on record for crypto-based crime, as the continuation of the coronavirus pandemic encouraged an increased number of online transactions and investments.
Chainanalysis’ report follows on from the US Department of Justice seizing around $2 million worth of crypto from the DarkSide ransomware operators behind the attack on Colonial Pipeline. Meanwhile, in the UK, London's Metropolitan Police Service made its largest-ever seizure of cryptocurrency, taking $180 million worth from a suspected money launderer.
On Monday, HM Revenue and Customs said it had seized the NFTs and had placed three people under arrest on suspicion of attempting to defraud it out of £1.4 million. This is the first time an NFT has been seized by UK law enforcement.
NFTs, which first surfaced in 2014, are unique digital tokens that can be bought and sold in cryptocurrency or traditional currencies that have no tangible form of their own.
“Our first seizure of a Non-Fungible Token serves as a warning to anyone who thinks they can use crypto-assets to hide money from HMRC,” said Nick Sharp, HMRC’s Deputy Director Economic Crime. “We constantly adapt to new technology to ensure we keep pace with how criminals and evaders look to conceal their assets.”
Three digital artwork NFTs as well as other crypto assets worth approximately £5,000 have been seized after the HMRC successfully secured a court order.
According to HMRC, the three suspects are thought to have used “sophisticated methods to try to hide their identities including false and stolen identities.”
The biggest thing to put potential investors off of getting involved in the cryptocurrency market is the constantly flaunted risks of putting your money into these crypto coins. But what are the main risks of doing this? And how does one invest while minimising these risks for a better trading experience?
The Basics Of Cryptocurrency
Let’s start with the basics. First of all, cryptocurrency is a decentralised currency, meaning it lacks any form of regulatory body compared to government-issued currencies. These currencies are based on blockchain technology, a secure and traceable system, in which every cryptocurrency exchange can be verified reducing the risk of these currencies becoming destabilised. It also requires no trust between trading parties. Everyone involved in the blockchain has an exact copy of the cryptocurrency data, and if a member’s data doesn’t match the majority of others in the network, it cannot be used to trade, as this could be a sign of tampered or corrupted data.
Is Cryptocurrency Still A Good Investment?
As this is still a fairly new marketplace, it’s important to keep learning as much as possible. It can be said with a level of certainty that investing in things like Bitcoin and Ether aren’t going to be bad investments if you’re cautious and understand what you’re doing. Theoretically, any investment can be a bad one, and some of the best advice is to spread out your investments across multiple currencies and markets to reduce your losses if things should happen to take a bad turn on one particular investment. And likewise, the wider your net is cast, the better chance you have of hitting a good investment too. One of the features of the crypto market that is spoken about at length, actually boasts opportunity as well as risk, and that is the volatility of the market.
A Volatile Marketplace
You may have seen this word used time and time again in regard to cryptocurrency and for good reason. The unpredictability of the cryptocurrency market is one of the things that wards away many potential investors, but it’s also the thing that has made some people unfathomable amounts of profit. The success stories of early Bitcoin investors are almost entirely a result of the chaotic fluctuations and the huge rises in the value of this currency. When getting into investing in cryptocurrency today, it’s important to be prepared for unexpected drops as well as rises in value, and in fact, compared to traditional markets which have become fairly stable over the years, people have become quite accepting of the crypto market’s volatility. There is understandably much less panic when the crypto market experiences great swings, unlike if the same happened on the stock market, but it’s still essential for you to remain vigilant, and avoid letting yourself be driven by fear or greed.
Paying Your Taxes
Recently, HMRC has been figuring out who is eligible to pay taxes on their crypto gains and losses, especially now that investment in this marketplace has become much more frequent. The concern here is that people are able to make extortionate amounts of income without paying anything back in taxes. As a crypto trader, it is important for you to regulate yourself and be prepared to pay capital gains tax (CGT) on your crypto trades. If you don’t put this money aside for these tax payments, you could be in for a nasty surprise. It’s worthwhile to gain the advice and guidance of an expert legal team such as Hodge Bakshi who are knowledgeable of the process of trading cryptocurrency as well as having a solid understanding of crypto tax in the UK and compliance in this area. Don’t take any risks when it comes to taxes. It’s not worth it and you could get into some serious trouble if you do.
Consider Risk Versus Reward
In any market, the riskier the investment, the higher the potential profit. This of course requires a level of understanding on top of the willingness to risk a higher investment. While risk may be high, there is research you can be doing to ensure a higher chance of success on a particular investment. Research the currency you’re putting money into, including the history of that cryptocurrency, its usability, the popularity of it currently, as well as any possible competitors gaining traction. These are all going to be factors in whether the price will go up or down and could give you some better indicators as to whether it’s the right time to invest or not.
Stop Loss Orders
Many traders operate using automated systems as this can allow them to get on with other important trades and their general lives without needing to watch their accounts 24/7. There are some very useful automated orders that traders can utilise to reduce their risk of losing money on these investments. The most common of these are the stop loss and take profit orders. The former of the two is where you assign a specific value that, if the price of the stock or currency in question drops to that particular value, your open position for trading will be automatically closed, preventing anyone from buying from you. This is beneficial as it prevents you from selling at a loss, and even though the value of your cryptocurrency or stock may be dropping further than that value, you’re able to ride out the storm in the hopes that the value will rise again. On the flip side, a take profit order registers when your assets reach a particular price and automatically liquidates those open orders, allowing you to make a profit before the price drops again.
Fraudulent Exchanges
The crypto market is also at risk of fraud and one of the most common causes of this is fake currency exchanges. A number of investors have been scammed out of their money and crypto coins via fake exchange sites. It’s so important that you avoid any suspicious sites like this and assume that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Only visit popular, reputable exchanges for trading your cryptocurrency. The best way to do this is to research every site before you visit them or make an account, and also gather advice from other traders who can direct you towards these reputable sites. Of course, make sure you know and trust these traders first.
Scams And Cybertheft
The world of tech is always at risk of cyberattacks, and that also goes for your cryptocurrency. Hacks and scams have seen investors losing substantial amounts of money, and tracing stolen cryptocurrency is no easy feat, although there are some that have become much more talented at tracking these criminals down, causing thieves to think twice. In spite of this, however, it’s imperative that you remain vigilant against thieves, and recognise the telltale signs of scams. Only trade via reputable platforms and ensure you are using the most secure crypto wallet possible.
That means working to build your savings and ensuring that you make the most of your time and money.While some wealthy households have saved money during the pandemic, other individuals with uncertain work or who have been on furlough might have depleted their savings.
You might be looking to save more money in the future to give you a financial cushion in case of an emergency, or you might simply want to be able to treat yourself again. Whatever your situation, if you’re looking to save money and make some extra cash in 2022, then you need to make sure that you stay safe.
Many ‘get rich quick’ strategies advertised online turn out to be fraudulent, with a large proportion of them turning out to be pyramid schemes. To help you earn extra money and stay safe in 2022, here are some practical tips for money-savvy individuals.
Be Careful What You Click On
When you’re searching for money-making schemes online, you might find that many of the links look suspicious, and the websites appear poorly maintained. That’s because some cybercriminals prey on people who are looking to make extra income by making websites and links that can launch viruses onto their computers. These viruses can then encrypt their data and hold it for ransom, or they can simply steal your financial information and then take money from your bank accounts and more.
To avoid this issue, you should make sure that you have anti-virus software installed on your computer and other internet-connected devices, such as your smartphone and tablet computer. Your anti-virus software will usually protect you from infected links by blocking you from clicking on them. You should also be vigilant when you’re opening digital communications and be wary of unsolicited proposals for money-making schemes so that you reduce your chances of encountering a virus.
Use Refer And Earn Schemes From Trusted Brands
Many businesses offer easy ways to make extra money, but you should only consider ones from trusted brands. You should also check the terms and conditions to ensure that you won’t be in for any nasty surprises or will only earn credit, not actual cash.
Companies such as Lebara offer clear and easy refer and earn programmes that allow you to earn real money simply by inviting your friends and family members to get a SIM-only plan. If you sign up for the Lebara refer a friend programme, you can get real cash for every person you get to use this innovative mobile network. By only using trusted businesses such as this one and checking the terms, you can ensure that you don’t waste your time and get the most money for your effort.
Check How Much You Have To Spend
Some money-making schemes, even from respected brands, can involve you spending money first. For example, you might be able to get money off your purchases, but only if you spend a specific amount of money. You might also have to pay a specific amount before you can access specific tools to help you earn extra cash. If you’re freelancing and using a platform, you might have to pay to use it and respond to potential employers. As such, you need to make sure that you understand exactly how much you’re paying before you start using a new tool or platform. If you’re concerned that the cost is too high, then look elsewhere for a more cost-effective solution.
Make Your Own Products To Sell
As well as using schemes from trusted brands, you can also consider creating homemade products to sell. This approach is a safe way to earn money and ensure that you don’t get caught up in a pyramid scheme or land yourself with a load of tacky merchandise that you can’t get rid of. When making your own products, you should consider talking to your friends and family. They can help you to find out what they would like you to make and would buy. After all, unless your idea really takes off, you’ll probably be earning primarily from friends and connections and growing your sales through word of mouth. So, you should talk to your network of loved ones and find products that might tempt them.
Choose Trusted Online Marketplaces
For anyone who is making their own products to sell or who wants to earn money from second-hand items, you’ll need a platform to sell on. If you’re only selling to friends and family, then you could also consider allowing them to collect items from your home or passing them on via other friends. For strangers, you will need a more formal arrangement. While you could consider an in-person market stall, online e-commerce platforms can save you time, effort and, most importantly, money.
However, you need to make sure that you’re careful when using online marketplaces. Choose reputable online selling platforms that allow you to control your sales, such as Facebook Marketplace, Amazon or eBay. When you’ve found an online marketplace, you need to make sure that you’re careful when trading online. Make sure you receive confirmation of payment before you send out the item, and make sure that you package it correctly to reduce the chances of damage in transit.
Do Your Research And Stay Up To Date On Changes
Once you’ve found a money-making strategy, you should do your research and get first-hand insight into how safe each approach is and if it’s worth your time. Check out online reviews of money-making schemes and strategies and read social media posts on them to see what people who’ve already tried them have to say. While you don’t have to take all of these reviews at face value, you should use them to inform your approach. It would help if you also tried to stay up to date on new scams to ensure that you’re always one step ahead of criminals looking to exploit hardworking individuals like yourself. Following financial news blogs or listening to podcasts about cybercrime can help you to learn about and avoid potential new scams.
Know What To Do In Case You Encounter A Scam
Following these tips will help you to avoid the most obvious online schemes that are designed to take your hard-earned money while promising to multiply it. However, criminals can be incredibly smart, and they are always adapting their approaches. If you do get caught out, it’s important that you work to get your money back as soon as possible. That means learning what to do if you’re the victim of online fraud. If you don’t report the issue promptly and proactively protect your computer from further infiltration, then you could face further problems moving forward. So, you need to be proactive and make sure that you deal with the situation as calmly as possible.
Earning extra money is a great way to make yourself feel more financially secure, and it will allow you to treat yourself to the things and experiences you’ve always wanted. By using these tips, you can ensure that you don’t get scammed while trying to earn extra cash.
However, there’s a lot that you can do with dedicated proxies. This is especially with more sensitive tasks like banking. With fraud on the rise, internet banking can be risky without using a security tool such as a dedicated private proxy. It’s an intermediary mechanism that prevents data theft on banking systems.
If you do private baking, understanding why you need a proxy server is vital. This article looks at some of the reasons to buy dedicated proxies for private banking purposes. This article will help you know whether dedicated proxies are worth buying for banking privacy and security.
1. Improve Customer Experiences
Server overload problems are common in banking systems worldwide. This is because everyone wants to transact conveniently through the internet. With many requests coming, it is easy for a server to break down. Thankfully, this is preventable with the use of the right load balancing tools.
Most web admins use dedicated proxies to ensure proper load balancing. This load balancer works by distributing workloads across various servers to ensure that no server gets overwhelmed. Some servers may go down if you do not use such tools because they cannot handle a high number of requests.
A dedicated proxy server makes dynamically generated content available to users. It ensures smooth delivery of requests to the server and responses too. In general, most of the work gets delegated to the proxy server. This frees the application server so that it receives new requests efficiently.
This then means better customer experiences in the end. Improved server performance is also great for banking institutions. It also means more transactions and a higher customer retention rate. Thus, financial institutions and their customers must buy dedicated proxies for their banking needs.
2. Use Less Data
Financial institutions can establish their online services on websites, applications, or both. For website banking, a customer needs to click on the URL every time they want to transact. The good news is that the website doesn’t need to load from scratch if you are using a dedicated private proxy.
You can take advantage of the caching function of dedicated proxies to ensure that. Proxies cache websites that you frequently visit, making them display quickly in subsequent visits. Banking websites that you may use frequently aren’t an exception, which increases the efficiency of transacting.
Financial institutions can also use proxies to cache competitor websites. This is when they are using scraping proxies to monitor their competitors. Using a proxy for scraping ensures that you can gather data from competitor websites anonymously. This helps you improve your services and be competitive.
Thus, web scraping proxies can also cache these websites. So, you won’t need to load them from scratch when you want to check them for updated information. In the end, the businesses and private users who leverage the power of proxies reduce network costs significantly.
3. Reduce Risks Of Fraud
As discussed before, banking fraud is increasing every day. Banking institutions lose business and customer data to cybercriminals using various techniques. Even though they invest in their systems and improve them, the threat landscape is dynamic, and you can never be assured of safety.
Thankfully, security tools such as dedicated proxies can guarantee your online privacy and safety. A dedicated proxy server encrypts data in transfer, keeping it away from prying eyes and bots. This ensures that attackers cannot use the data even if they access it.
Also, private proxies secure data even when it is on your network. Hackers do not have to target your data when it gets transferred to and from your network. They can hack a network then steal or alter your stored data. A dedicated proxy server protects your data 24/7, which mitigates fraud cases.
4. Increase Speed In Banking Processes
Speed is a vital thing when it comes to monetary transactions. You want to pay for a service or product quickly and move on to other tasks. This is one of the reasons why you should think about investing in a dedicated proxy server as a banking business or customer.
A proxy brings you closer to the banking server, which makes transactions fast. The closer you are to the banking server; your transactions will be smoother. For a banking business, this enhances transactions making them process payouts faster and meet customer expectations.
You can buy cheap private proxies as a banking user. This is vital even if the banking institution you are transacting with has a proxy server in place. It increases your privacy, security and also increases the transacting speeds, which means a better experience.
Also, the faster you transact, the better. You’ll easily become a target for cybercriminals if you spend a lot of time on a single transaction. If requests don’t go through multiple times and you receive error messages, there are chances you could get exposed. A dedicated proxy server can help prevent this.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that internet banking has made life easy for many people. Today, everyone prefers sending and receiving money from the comfort of their homes. But then, there’s a need to transact safely, especially today when different techniques of banking fraud are coming up daily.
A dedicated private proxy is one of the best tools you can use for private banking. It can increase your privacy and security by encrypting the data you transfer to and from banking websites. Besides that, it can also help you save on data and increase your banking speeds without compromising your security.
Financial institutions can also benefit greatly from using proxies for transactions. Using super-fast proxies can make banking more efficient. Customers will complete transactions faster and with more safety and privacy. This efficiency of dedicated proxies can help improve customer experiences.
