Contact Us

Photo

Please contact Customer Service if you suspect "phishing" or any other possible scam. 


Click Here to Contact Us!

 

Home > What's New > Security Awareness

Shopping Tips for a Safe Season

As we are all out this time of year seeking gifts for our loved ones, it is a good time to be reminded to be safe when visiting malls and other stores.  Now is the best time not to let our guard down when ti comes to thieves, scam artists and fraudsters.

Here are a few tips to remember when shopping for that perfect gift. 

• Make a list of credit and debit card account numbers along with the phone number to call if they are lost or stolen.  If this does happen, you’ll have everything you need to act immediately and limit any liabilities.

• Leave extra cards and ID at home.  Remove any credit cards, store ac­count cards or extra debit cards from your purse or wallet that you will not need while shopping.  Never carry your social security card or other forms of personal identification that could compromise your identity if your purse or wallet should be lost or stolen on your shopping trip.

• Keep your card to yourself.  Don’t pull out your credit or debit card to pay for a purchase until you get to the cash register.  As you stand there holding your card in line, someone could copy down your card number or snap a photo of your card with a cell phone. 

• Get your card back after you make a purchase.  Double-check to insure the store clerk has returned your credit card, and you’ve put it back in your wallet before you leave the counter.

• Take personal precautions to guard your credit cards.  Men should carry their wallets in their front pockets, and women should wear purse straps over the head and across the chest to thwart pickpockets and thieves.

• Lock your purchases in the trunk.  If you are shopping at the mall and decide to take a trip to the car to lighten your load, lock all your shopping bags and purchases in the trunk of the car.  Thieves won’t hesitate to break in if they think there may be something of value inside your vehicle.

• Lock your purse and other valuables in the trunk.  Similar to the last point, if you take a break from shopping, and need to leave any valuables in your automobile, please be sure to lock them in your trunk.

 
 

FTC Consumer Alert

How Not to Get Hooked by a 'Phishing' Scam
Internet scammers casting about for people's financial information have a new way to lure unsuspecting victims: They go "phishing" .

Phishing is a high-tech scam that uses spam or pop-up messages to deceive you into disclosing your credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), phishers send an email or pop-up message that claims to be from a business or organization that you deal with - for example, your Internet Service Provider (ISP), bank, online payment service, or even a government agency. The message usually says that you need to "update" or "validate" your account information. It might threaten some dire consequence if you don't respond. The message directs you to a Web site that looks just like a legitimate organization's site, but it isn't. The purpose of the bogus site? To trick you into divulging your personal information so the operators can steal your identity and run up bills or commit crimes in your name.

The FTC, the nation's consumer protection agency, suggests these tips to help you avoid getting hooked by a phishing scam:

  • If you get an email or pop-up message that asks for personal or financial information, do not reply or click on the link in the message. Legitimate companies don't ask for this information via email. If you are concerned about your account, contact the organization in the email using a telephone number you know to be genuine, or open a new Internet browser session and type in the company's correct Web address. In any case, don't cut and paste the link in the message.
  • Don't email personal or financial information. Email is not a secure method of transmitting personal information. If you initiate a transaction and want to provide your personal or financial information through an organization's Web site, look for indicators that the site is secure, like a lock icon on the browser's status bar or a URL for a website that begins "https:" (the "s" stands for "secure"). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some phishers have forged security icons.
  • Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit card company or bank to confirm your billing address and account balances.
  • Use anti-virus software and keep it up to date. Some phishing emails contain software that can harm your computer or track your activities on the Internet without your knowledge. Antivirus software and a firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted files. Antivirus software scans incoming communications for troublesome files. Look for anti-virus software that recognizes current viruses as well as older ones; that can effectively reverse the damage; and that updates automatically. A firewall helps make you invisible on the Internet and blocks all communications from unauthorized sources. It's especially important to run a firewall if you have a broadband connection. Finally, your operating system (like Windows or Linux) may offer free software "patches" to close holes in the system that hackers or phishers could exploit.
  • Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them.
  • Report suspicious activity to the FTC. If you get spam that is phishing for information, forward it to spam@uce.gov. If you believe you've been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC's Identity Theft Web site at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from ID theft. Visit www.ftc.gov/spam to learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues , visit http://www.ftc.gov/ or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.