How Safe is My Digital Money?

I can remember having to pay cash for all purposes. Then, the first few times I used my eftpos card, just completely concerned me. I just couldn't come to terms with my money leaving my account, floating overhead like a williwonka chocolate bar only for it to magically restore itself another account that I hoped was the right one. Couldn't comprehend a world where that would ever become a significant way in which we handle financial transactions.

And gone are the days where I stash cash all around a bunch of strategic places, or have my little account book outlining my deposits and withdrawals and we definitely don't keep millions inhome safes for Scrooge McDuck,Richie Rich and Demi more to run frolick and rump among their millions.

Nope, these days, our money is represented on a screen. Depending on how the stock exchange reacts at times, can have significant detrimental affects on the value of my investment based on the confidence of people telling them to buy or sell.

Then there is my lonely little old day to day bank account and my savings account details and amounts,,, but all it takes is one hacker to enter where they are stored and reduce the amount that was in that account down to $0.

Waiting for the day that some dude who is smarter than me can just take possession of my accounts, drain them leaving me with nothing and Henry hacker just floats away in cyberspace having transferred all my money over to him.

I genuinely check my bank account statements with the thought in the back of my head is that my accounts were cleaned out over night and they now all contain $0 .sigh of release when things are as they should be.

Old habits do die hard though, I have a floor safe that was cemented into the house slab as it was being laid. They will have to blow that sucker out of there to get access to that money, even if the burglars find it) as it was poured and keep a doomsday backup plan in there if these electronic gate keepers get hacked or infiltrated and told to redirect my money so that my limit becomes $0

Watching stocks going up and down is about as much excitement I can bare to see.

Comments

  • +8

    Your digital money more safer than hiding it under the bed, as long as you aren't transferring to your online gf or giving someone your bank details over the phone.

  • +2

    Hello mate,

    All I can say is the world of cash and tangible assets is dead and only exists in your memories.

    You might feel uncomfortable with it, but the vast majority of value in the modern world exists only as a digital representation of something. Something like 7% of the money supply is in actual physical cash, and maybe 80% of payments in australia are made digitally.

    As long as you avoid scammers and phishing - which have been around in various forms since before we had online banks - your money is fine.

    You should be more concerned with the fact so much of it gets printed and inflated away every year that whatever you hold is worth less and less.

    Finance has been instrumentalized and abstracted away into markets that are totally divorced from the day to day lives of most people.

    If I had any advice, it's stick your investments in some diversified ETFs and don't worry about it. Never mind your safe.

    And just remember, you can't take it with you.

  • +7

    Very safe provided you don’t let your Welsh gf clean up your old hard drives into landfill

  • -6

    Interesting, probably non related thing I did learn for those who are interested is the dilemma about what you should do if you ask your bank teller or ATM For let's say, $500, they give you the money but as you walk away, you realise they've actually given you $5000.

    Finder's Keepers, losers weepers?
    Possession is 9/10 law?
    Their mistake, they gave it to me, now it's mine to keep and spend.

    If you are given more money than you asked for, depending on whether it was a computer error or person error dictates what your legal rights and responsibilities are.

    If it is the ATM that disperses a different amount of cash than what you asked for/had available in your account, this money remains the property of the bank. If you take it and keep it, it is called a taking and stealing and theft accusations aren't far behind for the reason,it was a computer error unable to be overturned by a real person.

    If however, you did the transaction over the counter with the trusty bank teller, if she gives you too much money, at law this is considered a giving capable of being checked by a human as such, unless you're worried about ethics or karma, that money is yours to spend!

    • +3

      Does your detector go off continuously?

      • I got that reference.
        All of those weird notes O.P. finds in the mornings, strange.

    • +1

      That's not how it works. If you ordered $500 from a bank but received $5000, an error has been made. 'Finders keepers' is a rule for small children. Legally you are obligated to return the money. If you take the money and spend it, and should be reasonably aware that you got it in error, you can be up on criminal charges.

      Real life example:
      https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-australian-bartender-da…

      Man finds he can withdraw unlimited funds from a NAB atm. Did he get to keep the money without consequences? Have a guess…

  • Cash is king

    • Kings and queens are just figureheads these days. Maybe it should change to "Cash is Prime Minister"

      • +2

        I am part korean - Cash is Grand Supreme Leader

    • When people say "cash is king", it's more about liquid, easily transacted money rather than the physical entity.

    • king for dodging the tax man

  • I wonder about AI. Could it get smart enough to do what OP fears? Sure it might need a bad actor to give it initial access (say, to the US Social Security system, as IS happening right now) and learn how to access all those accounts it now has the details for.
    For the moment this is just a brain fart for me, but …

  • They don't "hack" accounts (too time consuming), they either try darkweb leaked passwords or social engineer you to give them access …

    "Hi Mr Detector, I am Sam from your bank doing an audit of all customer passwords, please spell your password to me to see if it is strong enough for this purpose"

    "Ok, Sam, my password is password123"

    Or, there is a password from myspace.com that you used as a banking password with the same email address, etc

    • Or social engineer someone inside an organisation with access.
      Or film your phone as you type in the password.
      Or scan your retina as you get happy slapped by some random kid in public.

  • +1

    isnt the barrier for entry into physical theft (eg. knife / gun point) lower than the barrier for digital crime

  • Digital money at a proper bank is safer than cash. Think about stashing thousands of dollars at home, and the security risk. A thief or another family member may take it.

    Don't worry about uber hackers accessing your account. People lose money because they get an email or phone call with a wild and unbelievable story with instructions on how you should send the money to the scammer.

    Now, if you choose to store crypto currency on your computer or an exchange, then all bets are off. Hackers will try to get to it, and there is no recourse if you lose the crypto.

  • can you trade me 40 JPEG's for 5 of rock? 😂

  • And how much of you cash stashed around 'strategic places' gets forgotten about, left with the house after selling, lost, eaten by worms, accidentally binned with hard rubbish, burned in a fire. There's safety risks with both physical and digital representations.

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