Five ways to protect your bank account from identity theft

Fraudsters may try to gain access to your information for purposes such as draining your existing bank accounts or opening new accounts in your name. — Dreamstime/TNS

Vivian Thornton received quite a shock when she logged onto her bank account and noticed an unfamiliar debit charge for concert tickets totaling more than US$2,000 (RM8,802). In fact, the hefty charge had brought her account to a negative balance, says Thornton, who is a small business-owner and Charlotte, North Carolina, resident.

On the day this happened, in 2023, Thornton had used her debit card just once – to fill up her gas tank, she recounted to Bankrate. “I later went to deposit some checks online and noticed that unfamiliar charge. It was a really huge shock because I’ve never even purchased tickets through Ticketmaster, so it was kind of like, ‘Wow, where did this come from?’ ”