Avoid the Zeus Virus on Your Credit Card

As fraudsters seem to invent new ways to trick, scam and hoax the public everyday, it is becoming increasingly important to know how to protect your finances.

The prevalent platform or 'God' for financial fraud, Zeus Malware, is a particular worry for banking customers at the moment.

Zeus has succeeded in inventing a particularly fool-proof device for asking people to provide their most intimate financial details.

By targeting the two main security systems Verified by Visa and MasterCard, a total of 15 leading financial institutions and their customers could be at risk.

By mimicking the validation page which is often requested by Visa and MasterCard, the scam has enough legitimacy to dupe even the most careful e-bankers.

This scam is particularly disheartening as from the outset Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode has been introduced in the customers' best interests.

If you don't have one of these systems protecting your card then it is strongly advised that you enroll now. Especially since, as you'll see when you do a credit card comparison, some card providers only protect you under their internet fraud guarantees when you've signed up to this scheme with a password.

It is easy to sign-up - simply visit your bank's website, register your card for the service and choose a password that no one could guess.

You could use numbers, symbols and letters in your password for added protection.

After this, every transaction you make online will be protected.

A screen will come up and ask for the password and if it is incorrect, you will not be able to complete the transaction.

This added layer of protection should be used with caution though, as the Zeus hoax has so recently proved.

PC's that are infected with the malware could be subject to an attack.

After making a transaction, Zeus could inject their own falsified form into the browser, claiming that Visa and MasterCard now have compulsory security systems.

They will then ask for details such as date of birth, social security number, card number and personal password.

This information would give them access to your card and they would then be able to make countless 'card not present' transactions.

However, this will not happen if you are already enrolled in Verified by Visa or SecureCode.

It can also be avoided, as can every scam of this nature, by downloading the software that your credit card provider suggests.

Programmes are free to download for e-banking customers of several UK banks including HSBC, Santander, RBS and NatWest.

The software detects and stops HTML injection, and would not allow Zeus to force a false form on to your browser.

Zeus is very hard to detect even by the most high-tech anti-virus software.

It is also alarmingly common, so if you suspect the smallest irregularity on your PC, contact your bank, download software and make sure you get disinfected.

Note that credit cards meant for spending as opposed to, say, 0% balance transfer credit cards, may be more likely to come with added fraud protection.

This can include monitoring of the account which flags up unusual activity as potential fraud.