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Tips for Preventing Fraud

While cybercrime and fraud are serious threats, you can take practical steps to protect your identity and assets. To reduce your exposure to fraud and reinforce your efforts, Schwab also has mechanisms in place to help safeguard your data and accounts. You can also have an impact on safeguarding your information and assets by following the guidelines below and applying caution when sharing information and executing transactions. This checklist summarizes common cyber fraud tactics, along with tips, best practices, and actions to take if you suspect a breach.

Ways to protect your assets

Safe practices for working with your advisor

How we protect your accounts

Schwab leverages protocols and policies to help protect your financial assets. Below are actions you can take to reinforce our efforts:

To learn more, visit Schwab’s Client Learning Center (Content.Schwab.com/LearningCenter).

Follow general best practices

Keep your technology up to date

Be cautious with public networks

Be strategic with your login credentials and passwords

Be sure you’re on a secure website

Beware of phishing

What to do if you suspect a breach or fraud

Glossary

Two-step verification (aka multi-factor authentication)

A method of confirming your identity using a second step to verify who you are. For example, the first step might be to enter your username and password, and the second step might be to enter a randomly generated number sent to you via email, text, phone call, or token

Phishing

The fraudulent practice of sending emails or text messages appearing to be from reputable companies or trusted individuals in an attempt to get individuals to reveal personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers. Phishing attempts are usually urgent-sounding, legitimate looking emails or texts designed to trick you
into disclosing personal information or installing a virus on your device. These scams can be sent as attachments or links that, when opened or clicked, may trigger malicious activity or take you to fake sites that resemble the real business websites.

Password manager

An encrypted online or cloud-based program that generates, retrieves, and keeps track of random passwords across countless accounts and also protects information such as passwords, PINs, credit card numbers and their three-digit CVV codes, and answers to security questions.

Domain name

As it relates to an email address, this is the information that comes after the @ symbol—for example, schwab.com in jane.doe@schwab.com.

Spam filter

A program that detects unsolicited and unwanted emails and prevents them from reaching your email inbox. Usually
these types of emails are instead sent to a spam folder.

Malware

Software that is intended to damage or disable computers and computer systems.

Learn more

Updated July 14, 2022