Member Information & Education

March is Fraud Prevention Month
Protect Your Identity Posted March 13, 2007

Identity theft is an unfortunate reality which can happen to anyone. Here are some links to resources for information on the risks of identity theft, how to prevent it, and what to do in the event of identity theft.

Alberta Learning Information Service - Provides guidelines to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft.

Consumer Measures Committee - Offers a consumer identity theft kit for individuals and business.

Government of Canada - Questions and Answers about identity theft.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada - Provides a wealth of information including fact sheets and checklists.

Public Safety Canada - Advice for consumers on identity theft.

RCMP - Tips to avoid becoming an easy target for identity theft.

Is Your Internet Transaction Secure? Posted March 7, 2006

Using the Internet is a convenient and easy way to access information, to shop, and to do your banking. When you use the Internet to perform your financial transactions, the Credit Union’s Internet transaction application has many different pieces of technology to encrypt your personal and financial information from the view of an Internet fraudster. However, even with these measures in place, you need to take your own security measures to protect your computer from the eyes of a fraudster.

Investing in software and hardware that increases your computer security is vital to anyone who uses the Internet. The three security enhancements that are recommended are:

Firewall
Having a firewall installed in your computer, either in hardware or software application or a combination of both, is your first line of defence against an Internet fraudster. By detecting any new for of attack or attempted intrusions to your system, a good firewall will prevent unauthorized access to your computer network. Be sure to keep it updated on a regular basis.

Anti-Virus Program
A good anti-virus program can prevent destructive computer codes from spreading through your computer or network and from collecting your personal information or disabling your computer. So long as you update your anti-virus software on a weekly basis, you will be able to detect if a virus has infiltrated your computer.

Anti-Spyware Program
Without your knowledge or consent, a spyware program will download onto your computer while you are on the Internet. It will gather information about you and your online habits and relay it to advertisers. Internet fraudsters can use advanced technology to obtain your personal information or passwords from your computer and use them on secure sites to access your financial accounts. Specialized anti-spyware programs installed and regularly updated on your computer will help protect you against this breach in your privacy. You may even want to consider installing more than one type of anti-spyware software to detect all types of breaches.

Some other ways to protect yourself against fraud and increase the security of your Internet financial transactions:

• Use a multi-digit password that includes both numbers and letters;
• Change your password regularly;
• Do not share or leave your passwords or Personal Identifications Numbers (PIN) in easily accessible places;
• Disable file sharing in WINDOWS® products;
• Do not follow links provided in an email form that appears to be from your credit union or any other financial institution that request you provide personal information. If you are unsure, call your financial institution through a known number, other than the one provided in the content of the email, to check if the message was sent from them.
• Observe the look of your online transaction site and observe if any changes occur, check the URL carefully to ensure you have not been rerouted to a phony site.

If you have questions or concerns about the safety or security of your personal information or have noticed unusual transactions on your accounts, call us at (403) 232-4500 or (800) 207-0068.

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