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Protecting ourselves from fraud is increasingly critical given the ease with which modern commerce enables unscrupulous individuals to wreak havoc. As more of our lives transition online, it’s essential to understand how we can prevent fraud and identity theft. Given the broad range of tactics criminals use and their increasing sophistication, individual consumers and self-directed investors must adapt.
Want to keep an eye on your account or update your information? Access your Client Portal.
Financial Identity Theft
One of the most common types of fraud is financial identity theft. Financial identity theft occurs when someone uses another person’s information for financial gain. For example, a fraudster may access your account numbers, usernames, or passwords to steal money or make unapproved purchases. As criminals become more sophisticated, it has become harder for some financial institutions to root out potentially fraudulent transactions or stop phishing schemes that put your personal information and account security at risk. Unfortunately, self-directed IRAs are not immune to this.
How Does NDTCO Help?
New Direction Trust Company, like other financial institutions, has an extensive fraud training program for our employees. It includes understanding an account holder’s transaction profile and identifying potentially fraudulent transactions. This allows us to better identify out-of-the-ordinary transactions and implement procedures to protect your accounts before they’re breached.
We have also implemented several procedures that make it harder to bypass our security controls. These include verifying account holder requests, implementing multifactor verification via our online client portal, and using DocuSign knowledge-based authentication for certain account-related requests.
Finally, our robust online portal makes it easy for you to access, review, and manage your account in real time to ensure your personal information is accurate and all transactions are approved.
What Can Investors Do to Prevent Fraud?
As an account holder, you can take steps to protect yourself and mitigate potential losses that may result from fraud. These include the following:
- Monitor your account and contact us if you suspect you have been hacked or don’t recognize an account activity.
- Ensure we have your updated contact information, including your email address, physical address, and phone number. This is crucial as NDTCO employees may need to contact you if they suspect fraudulent activity or verify a specific request. You can always confirm and update your contact information through your online portal or by reaching out to our Client Relations representatives.
- Finally, remain vigilant and proactive when it comes to self-directed investing. If you suspect one of your non-NDTCO accounts has been compromised, please immediately inform us of the potential fraud so we can update your account-specific information and keep an eye on your account. This will allow NDTCO to aid you in attempting to mitigate potential losses and investigate the fraud incident.
We’d Love to Hear from You!
Please feel free to give us a call at 877-742-1270 or send us a message through the Client Portal if you have any questions about your self-directed account or our fraud prevention procedures.
