November, 2015
Cyber security attacks are becoming more and more prevalent.
At Watters Financial Services, LLC (WFS) we have experienced fraudulent attempts to
gain access to our clients’ assets and private information many times. There are a number
of ways in which this can occur. Some of the methods they use are listed below.
·
IRS fraudulent
calls
·
Tax Returns filed
and refunds taken by scammers
·
Impersonation of
the client at a bank to withdraw funds.
·
Phishing attacks
to a firm requesting client funds (This actually happened again to one of our
clients yesterday)
·
Fraudulent credit cards
issued in the client’s name
To combat these security attacks, WFS has instituted office
policies and procedures to combat cyber crime.
Some of these policies and procedures include:
·
Clients have a
secret password that they use whenever requesting funds.
·
Clients are set up
for electronic fund transfers from TD Ameritrade Institutional to their
personal checking account.
·
WFS calls clients
to verify their identity whenever funds are requested via email.
·
WFS encourages
clients to change their passwords on key financial websites every 3 months.
·
WFS uses an
encryption software Citrix ShareFile®, when sending and receiving sensitive
data and attachments by email.
·
WFS has a picture
of clients on file.
·
WFS encourages
clients to switch to email providers other than AOL.
·
WFS uses Orion® as
an online portal that allows clients to access their performance securely from
anywhere in the world.
·
Client data and
paper documents are shredded after the appropriate holding period.
These are just some of the ways that WFS is committed to
safeguarding our clients’ assets and private information.
More Information can be found on the Department of
Homeland Security’s website at http://www.dhs.gov/stopthinkconnect#
