What is an Online Account Takeover?

Levo Credit Union®'s fraud specialist, Gabriel J., shares information on online account takeover and tips to prevent this fraud from occurring to your account.

Online account takeovers can be a form of authorized fraud, meaning victims are deceived into providing personal information or sending funds, resulting in more than $20 billion in fraud in 2025.

What is an Online Account Takeover?

An online account takeover is where a fraudster gets access to someone's personal information allowing them to sign into their online banking account. Once they have access, they can perform different actions that can cause a lot of damage.

Scammers may try to reach people through a text message, email, phone call, or even an unexpected piece of mail. They may pretend to represent a financial institution or another company one does business with, claim there is a some sort of an issue, and request funds to be transferred quickly. There is usually something that the scammer will need the person to do to gain access such as click a link in an email or text message or share a PIN or log-in information.

Once they get access to the account, they transfer funds to a different account or will ask the victim to move funds to unsecure accounts with the goal of stealing the funds. 

Online account takeovers can be a form of authorized fraud, meaning victims are deceived into providing personal information or sending funds, resulting in more than $20 billion in fraud in 2025.

Tips for Preventing an Online Account Takeover:

• Avoid clicking links in unexpected emails or text messages. If a message comes from an unknown sender, or appears to be from a company you do business with but you weren’t expecting it, don’t click any links or open any attachments. Clicking on a link or downloading an attachment can provide the fraudster access to your device.

• Monitor accounts and statements regularly. The fraudster can hold onto your account information for weeks or months before committing the fraud. Review your account often such as weekly or bi-weekly and report any unusual activity to your financial institution.

• Stop and hang up. When in doubt, hang up or stop communicating with the scammer. The fraudster wants you to act on impulse and think you are resolving a problem. Your financial institution will never ask for your username, password, or one-time PIN. 

What to Do If You Are a Victim of an Online Account Takeover?

If you are ever concerned that your financial information has been compromised, contact your financial institution. You can also stop by a branch or call their number listed on their website. They will be able to help look into your account to see if any transcations occurred without your authorization. Your financial institution can help assist with changing your username and password. They can also help advise other precautionary steps to keep you account safe.

If you’re a Levo member and suspect you’ve recently been affected by fraud, contact our Service Center at 605-334-2471 or toll-free at 1-800-568-5711.

Learn More About Other Common Scams

• Check Washing Scams

• Identity Theft

• Impersonation Scams

• Investment Scams

• Online Advertisement Scams

• Romance Scams 

• Fraud Prevention Education

Video Transcript:

(0:00) Online account takeover occurs in a bunch of different ways, but what it boils down to is some way, (0:06) somehow, a fraudster gets access to your information to sign into your online banking account. (0:11) Then once they get to that point, if they do, they can (0:14) do a lot of damage. Usually (0:16.) what that looks like is you will get a text message, an email, a phone call, sometimes even a piece (0:22) of mail out of the blue (0:23) claiming to be someone that you (0:25) do business with. Usually it'll be your financial institution, but it might be companies that you have, your phone company, (0:30) anything like that, and they're usually saying that there's some sort of issue. (0:34)

If they're calling claiming to be your financial institution, they may tell you that someone's trying to get into your (0:39) account, (0:40) but then what happens next is that they'll tell you, "Oh, you're going to get an email (0:45) that we need you to click (0:46) on this link," or they're going to ask for your login information. (0:50) And then one way or another, they end up getting access to your account. Once they do that, (0:56) they can then move funds where they want them, or they'll ask (00:59) you to move funds to different places (1:01) that are unsecure, uh, with the end goal being them stealing those funds from you. (1:06)

Now, there's a bunch of different ways, that this (1:09) can occur, but it usually does boil down to the fraudster contacting you and pressing that something is happening (1:15) right now, and we need you to act right now. While it- it can be scary, especially in situations of (1:20) actual fraud, when someone is trying to get into your account, (1:23) you wanna act quick, but the first thing you wanna do is just slow down and think about the situation. (1:29)

Has your bank ever called you (1:30) about this before? (1:31) Has your credit union ever asked for your username and password before? (1:35) 'Cause they probably (1:36) haven't. Usually, if it is someone from your financial (1:39) institution, they're not going to need any one-time pins that are sent out, or your password (1:44) or username, but the fraudsters are, because they don't actually have access to your information, even though they're pretending like (1:50) they do. Another thing (1:52) you can do is if you ever do get a text message or an email out of the blue (1:56) that has a link for (01:57) you to click, you shouldn't (1:58) ever press on it, because even if you don't give (2:00) out your information, if you start typing (2:02) it, they can get access to your in- (2:05) login information, or they can install programs onto your device, which can be hard, and even weeks or (2:11) months down the line, they can get access to your information. (2:14)

Final thing is if you're ever worried that someone you're speaking with on the phone or someone you're (2:19) emailing or texting with isn't who (2:21) they tell you they are, stop communicating with them. If it is actually your financial institution, you're not gonna hurt (2:26) anyone's feeling by hanging up on them and then trusting a phone number or calling a phone (2:31) number that you trust, because they'll get you back in contact with whoever (2:35) you were speaking with. They'd much rather you hang up on them and then call back (2:39) than actually give a fraudster out your information, 'cause then it's much harder to protect your (2:43) funds.

If you are ever worried that your information has been compromised, whether it be with your financial institution or (2:49) your email address or (2:51) anything like that, first thing you should do is call a number that you trust or stop (2:55) by a branch. Go and sit down (2:57) with an officer. They'll be able to help look into your account, (3:00) make sure that there weren't any transactions that occurred without (3:03) your authorization. They can help change your username and password. It's always a good idea to change your email (3:08) address as well and your email password, just to be on the safe side.