If you feel that no financial institution account is entirely secure from scams and fraud these days, you aren’t being paranoid. 

Three in 10 financial institution customers experienced fraudulent activity on their accounts in the history year, according to a first-ever financial institution fraud study by J.D. Power, the buyer analytics firm. 

Some consumers sent money to scam artists with a settlement app. Others found unauthorized purchases on their statements, or had money stolen from their accounts. 

Analysts at J.D. Power said fraud is proliferating in an era of peer-to-peer (P2P) settlement apps and increasingly impersonal transactions.  

“You would never, as a buyer, receive 100 dollars and hand it to a unknown. But in many ways, that’s how P2P works,” said Jennifer White, elder director of banking and settlement intelligence at J.D. Power. 

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Data leaks, such as the massive National community Data breach, provide scammers access to billions of Social safety numbers and other buyer data. A impoverished actor can telephone a customer, masquerading as a financial institution and armed with enough knowledge to sound convincing. 

“It’s straightforward to fall for this, because they have a lot of your personal information,” said Paul Benda, executive vice president for uncertainty, fraud and cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association. 

‘It’s not just happening once’

The study, released November 7, found that 29% of financial institution customers experienced fraud in the last 12 months. Of that throng, 45% had multiple incidents of fraud. 

“It’s not just happening once,” White said. 

Customers under age 40 were even more likely to fall victim to financial institution fraud.  

That might seem counter-intuitive, White said, given that younger Americans are digital natives. But they are also more likely to use settlement apps, she said, making them potentially more vulnerable. 

The study revealed two other intriguing facts about American financial institution customers: We really like it when our financial institution solves a fraud case. And we don’t do a great job of protecting our own financial institution accounts. 

Nearly all financial institution customers, or 92%, said they were “likely to reuse their financial institution” after the institution resolved a case of fraud.  

Most fraud victims said they still felt pretty excellent about their financial institution. Only 17% said the encounter left them with a negative impression.  

Customers are especially delighted, White said, when the financial institution discovers the fraud and makes it correct.  

financial institution officials concurred.  

“When we detect and prevent fraud or recover [funds] for our clients, they are super-satisfied,” said Jennifer Ehresman, head of buyer client protection at financial institution of America. 

The study drew on survey responses from more than 20,000 financial institution and capital card customers.  

financial institution customers don’t always safeguard their own accounts

Its findings recommend banks may be more vigilant about fraud than their customers.  

“Banks spend literally billions of dollars every year on anti-fraud measures for your accounts,” Benda said.  

Nearly half of financial institution customers in the J.D. Power update, or 46%, said their financial institution had prompted them to receive fraud-prevention measures in the history 90 days. 

But customers didn’t always assist themselves. One-quarter of consumers said they had done nothing in the history 90 days to secure their accounts. Among those who did something, the most ordinary action was to review recent transactions for suspicious activity. 

That’s better than nothing, banking experts declare, but not much. Checking your transactions is reactive, rather than proactive, and doesn’t really protect your account. 

It seems harder than ever to keep ahead of the scammers. Nonetheless, here are some tips for financial institution customers to protect their accounts. 

Visit your safety center 

leave to your financial institution’s website or app and look for a safety center, “a location on the app where all your safety settings can be viewed in one place,” White said. 

Most large banks propose safety centers. Some will even navigator you through the steps to safeguard your account.  

Manage your passwords 

Choose complicated passwords that aren’t obvious: Not your birthday, or your dog’s name. Don’t use the same password for every account. Update them frequently.  

Many consumers use password managers, programs that generate powerful passwords and store them securely.  

Obviously, if you get a warning that your password was compromised in a breach, discover a recent one. 

Set alerts 

Your financial institution probably has an alerts page, where you can choose to receive a text communication or email if someone changes your password or contact information.  

An account alert can inform you about a removal, declined deal or any activity above a sure dollar threshold.  

Beyond passwords 

Many budgetary institutions use two-factor authentication as a way to double-check your identity.  

The obvious example is those numeric codes you get on your cellphone when you try to log in, in case someone has stolen your password. 

More institutions are using biometrics, such as facial-recognition and fingerprint software, to prove beyond any question that it’s you.  

Such measures “may receive a little longer,” J.D. Power reports, “but the protection is worth the hassle.” 

Update your app 

Make sure you have the most recent version of your banking app on your smartphone. The app will usually inform you when it’s period to update. 

leave paperless 

Paperless correspondence saves period and attempt. It’s also safer, safety experts declare, because there’s no document trail for a criminal to pursue.  

Don’t distribute your smartphone 

“Be careful with your phone,” said Ashwin Raghu, director and head of innovation and scam policy at Citi. “Because the phone is really the key to your kingdom.” 

Don’t distribute your phone, Raghu said. Don’t leave it lying around, unlocked, where people can access it.  

If you’re buying something on a settlement app, complete the deal yourself. Don’t hand your phone to the person making the sale. 

More:Scam losses worldwide this year are $1 trillion. How to protect yourself.

Beware of the unexpected

Be careful about answering an email, call or text that claims to be from your financial institution. The American Bankers Association lists five red flags:  

• A communication with a link you weren’t expecting 
• Anything using urgent or fretful language 
• Any attachment 
• Any request for personal information, like a PIN or password 
• Anything that pressures you to send money on an app.  

“If you didn’t expect it,” Ehresman said, “don’t click on it.”