Consumer Alerts
Avoid Fraudulent Checks
Click here for advice from CUNA Mutual, a national credit union organization.
http://www.fraud.org/tips/internet/fakecheck.htm
Stop identity theft
There is a type of identity theft using the Internet called "phishing." Pronounced "fishing; that's exactly what thieves are doing, fishing for your personal financial information. They want your account numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers and other confidential information so they can use your financial accounts or run up bills on your credit cards.
In the worst case, you could find yourself a victim of identity theft. With the sensitive information obtained from a successful phishing scam, these thieves can take out loans or obtain credit cards and even a driver's license in your name. They can do damage to your financial history and personal reputation that can take years to unravel. But if you understand how phishing works and how to protect yourself, you can help stop this crime.
How to protect yourself
1. Never provide your personal information in response to an unsolicited request, whether it is over the phone or on the Internet. E-mails and Internet pages created by phishers may look exactly like the real thing. They may even have a fake padlock icon that ordinarily is used to denote a secure site. If you did not initiate the communication, do not provide any information.
2. If you are unsure whether a contact is legitimate, contact the financial institution. You can find phone numbers and Websites on the monthly statements you receive from your financial institution, or you can look up the company in a phone book or on the Internet. The key is that you should be the one to initiate the contact, using information that you have verified yourself.
3. Never provide your account information and/or password over the phone or in response to an unsolicited Internet request. A financial institution would never ask you to verify your account information or confirm a password online. Thieves armed with this information and your account number can help themselves to your money.
4. Review account statements regularly to ensure all charges are correct. If your account statement is late in arriving or does not arrive, call your financial institution to find out why. If your financial institution offers electronic account access, check your account activity online regularly to catch suspicious activity.
What to do if you fall victim
1. Contact your financial institution immediately and alert it to the situation.
2. Close accounts you think have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Call the security or fraud department of each associated company or financial institution. Follow- up in writing and supply copies of supporting documents.
3. It is important to notify credit card companies and financial institutions in writing. Send your letters by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can document when and what the company received. Keep copies of your correspondence and enclosures.
4. Report all suspicious contacts to the Federal Trade Commission through the Internet at http://ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/or by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338).
5. Check with your state Attorney General's office to find out if state law requires the police to take reports for identity theft. Check the Blue Pages of your telephone directory for the phone number, or check www.naag.org for a list of state Attorneys General.
If possible, file a report with local police or police in the community where the identity theft took place. Obtain a copy of the police report or the report number. It can help you deal with creditors who need proof of the crime. If the police are reluctant to take your report, ask to file a "Miscellaneous Incidents" report.
If you disclose sensitive information in a phishing attack, contact one of the three major credit bureaus listed below and discuss whether to place a fraud alert on your file. A fraud alert will help prevent thieves from opening a new account in your name.
Equifax
800-525-6285
P.O. Box 740250
Atlanta, GA 30374 www.equifax.com
Experian
888-397-3742 P.O. Box 1017
Allen, TX 75013
TransUnion
800-680-7289 P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92634
www.transunion.com
What is a phishing attack?
Phishing is a form of social engineering. Phishing attacks use email or malicious web sites to solicit personal, often financial, information. Attackers may send email seemingly from a reputable credit card company or financial institution that requests account information, often suggesting that there is a problem. When users respond with the requested information, attackers can use it to gain access to the accounts.
What You Can Do to Avoid Becoming a Victim
Filter Spam
Because most email scams begin with unsolicited commercial email, you should take measures to prevent spam from getting into your mailbox. Most email applications and web mail services include spam-filtering features, or ways in which you can configure your email applications to filter spam. Consult the help file for your email application or service to find out what you must do to filter spam.
You may not be able to eliminate all spam, but filtering will keep a great deal of it from reaching your mailbox. You should be aware that spammers monitor spam filtering tools and software and take measures to elude them. For instance, spammers may use subtle spelling mistakes to subvert spam filters, changing "Potency Pills" to "Poten~y Pills."
Regard Unsolicited Email with Suspicion
Don't automatically trust any email sent to you by an unknown individual or organization. Never open an attachment to unsolicited email. Most importantly, never click on a link sent to you in an email. Cleverly crafted links can take you to forged web sites set up to trick you into divulging private information or downloading viruses, spy ware, and other malicious software.
Spammers may also use a technique in which they send unique links in each individual spam email. Victim 1 may receive an email with the link , and victim 2 may receive the same spam email with the link . By watching
which links are requested on their web servers, spammers can figure out which email addresses are valid and more precisely target victims for repeat spam attempts.
Remember that even email sent from a familiar address may create problems: Many viruses spread themselves by scanning the victim computer for email addresses and sending themselves to these addresses in the guise of an email from the owner of the infected computer.
Treat Email Attachments with Caution
Email attachments are commonly used by online scammers to sneak a virus onto your computer. These viruses can help the scammer steal important information from your computer,
compromise your computer so that it is open to further attack and abuse, and convert your computer into a 'bot' for use in denial-of-service attacks and other online crimes. As noted above, a familiar "from" address is no guarantee of safety because some viruses spread by first searching for all email addresses on an infected computer and then sending itself to these addresses. It could be your friend's computer is infected with just such a virus.
Use Common Sense
When email arrives in your mailbox promising you big money for little effort, accusing you of
violating the Patriot Act, or inviting you to join a plot to grab unclaimed funds involving persons you don't know in a country on the other side of the world, take a moment to consider the likelihood that the email is legitimate.
Install Anti-virus Software and Keep it Up to Date
If you haven't done so by now, you should install anti-virus software on your computer. If
possible, you should install an anti-virus program that has an automatic update feature. This will help ensure you always have the most up-to-date protection possible against viruses. In addition, you should make sure the anti-virus software you choose includes an email scanning feature. This will help keep your computer free of email-born viruses.
Install a Personal Firewall and Keep it Up to Date
A firewall will not prevent scam email from making its way into your mailbox. However, it may
help protect you should you inadvertently open a virus-bearing attachment or otherwise introduce malware to your computer by following the instructions in the email. The firewall, among other things, will help prevent outbound traffic from your computer to the attacker. When your personal firewall detects suspicious outbound communications from your computer, it could be a sign you have inadvertently installed malicious programs on your computer.
Learn the Email Policies of the Organizations You Do Business With
Most organizations doing business online now have clear policies about how they communicate
with their customers in email. Many, for instance, will not ask you to provide account or personal information via email. Understanding the policies of the organizations you do business with can help you spot and avoid phishing and other scams. Do note, however, that it's never a good idea to send sensitive information via unencrypted email.
Configure Your Email Client for Security
There are a number of ways you can configure your email client to make you less susceptible to
email scams. For instance, configuring your email program to view email as "text only" will help protect you from scams that misuse HTML in email.
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