SECURITY RESOURCES

ATM fraud is on the rise. Keep your money and personal information from fraudsters and stay alert when using ATMs. Whenever you use an ATM, remember to always survey the area you will be entering to make your transaction. Take these simple precautions when using an ATM:

• Review our ATM Safety Guide to know how an ATM may be tampered by fraudsters. Please reach out to the credit union for the guide

• Be aware of your surroundings

• Guard your PIN from hidden cameras and fraudsters “shoulder surfing”

• Skimmers can be found in ATMs and Pay-at-the-pump gasoline stations

• Use familiar ATMs

• ATMs away from bank branches are most vulnerable

• Avoid suspicious and/or stand-alone ATMs

• If you use an ATM or Pay-at-the-pump terminal for the first time, check the surface and surroundings around it to make sure nothing has been added or moved

• If you are using a drive-through ATM, lock your doors and roll up your other windows

• If you walk up to ATM, lock your car and be aware of your surroundings

• Use only well-lit ATMs and avoid any ATMs in secluded locations

• For nighttime ATM transactions, bring a friend with you

• You may choose to get cash back at grocery stores instead of using an ATM

• If you notice anyone who looks or acts suspicious at an ATM, leave immediately and go to a different ATM

• When conducting transactions, position yourself so that your body blocks the monitor screen

• Never leave your receipts at the ATM

Fraudsters often target gas stations. If you use an ATM or any pay-at-the-pump terminals, ensure the machine has not been tampered with.  Follow the tips above, check the terminals for any skimmers and cover the keypad when entering your PIN/ZIP.

If you believe you may have become a victim of ATM fraud, please contact us at 877.762.8663 immediately. 

Cards have transformed how we shop and bank. But fraudsters may try to steal your card information and use it for unauthorized charges and withdrawals. Make sure you make these transactions in ways that reduce your risk of fraud.

• Review receipts before you sign

• Monitor your statements

• Sign up for Home Banking and review frequently

• Sign up for email/text "transaction alerts" through Home Banking

• Keep copies of ATM and sales receipts for your records

• For online purchases, keep current with your software and virus protection

• Report missing cards immediately

• If you are traveling within the United States or internationally, be sure to read our traveling tips

Digital Banking Tips

• Don’t reveal your password to anyone else. Your password is designed to protect the privacy of your account information. If you think your password has been compromised, change it online immediately.

• Don’t walk away from your computer in the middle of a Home Banking session.

• If anyone else is likely to use your computer, clear your memory cache or close and re-open your browser in order to eliminate copies of recently viewed pages. How you clear your cache will depend on the browser and version you have. This function is generally found in the preferences menu.

• It is highly recommended that you use antivirus, anti-spyware and anti-malware programs on your computers to help protect your information and your computer from use by unwanted users. Additionally, it is important to keep the signature files updated by downloading and installing program updates on a daily basis.

• Please know that if you use a public computer to access your personal information that there could be potential risks, including computers that are infected with viruses and/or malicious software, such as Trojans and keylogger programs that may be able to capture entered and viewed personal information.

Check out our ATM safety tips above.

Many foreign countries have switched to debit/credit cards with embedded chips instead of the magnetic stripe cards that are common in the United States. Visa has provided some tips for dealing with this situation if you are traveling abroad.

Before You Travel

1. Notify Priority One Credit Union before traveling internationally. Advance notification will help ensure that legitimate purchases are approved.

2. Check your expiration date: Make sure your VISA Debit Card will not expire while you are away.

3. Keep your Visa Debit Card account number and the lost/stolen customer service telephone number in a safe place, separate from your wallet or handbag. (888.241.2510 or 909.941.1398 for international calls.)

4. Check our Schedule of Fees and Charges for foreign ATM Transaction Fees.

During Travel

In countries that have adopted chip technology, particularly in Europe, international visitors may continue to use their non-chip-enabled cards; most chip terminals will recognize and process a magnetic stripe card.

1. If you encounter a merchant who is hesitant to accept a non-chip card for payment, encourage the merchant to swipe the magnetic-stripe card through the terminal and follow the terminal prompts to complete the transaction.

2. If, for some reason, you are unable to use your Visa card to make a purchase at a merchant location, you should be able to obtain cash from a local ATM.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at 877.762.8663.

Safeguarding personal information

Here are some great tips on how to stay safe in cyberspace:

1. Set strong passwords. A strong password is a combination of upper and lower case letters and numbers that are not easily guessed. It could also be a simple sentence. Change it frequently and don’t write it down or share it with others.

2. Don’t reveal personal information via email. Scammers can make email messages and texts look legitimate. Be wary of companies asking for you to send personal information as “verification.” Do not send your personal information such as account numbers, social security numbers, passwords, etc. via email or text.

3. Don’t download that file! Opening files attached to emails can be dangerous because they can contain harmful computer viruses or programs. Rule of thumb: if you’re not expecting an attachment from someone, question whether it is legitimate. Make sure you have a good antivirus program on your computer that is up-to-date.

4. Links aren’t always what they seem. Use caution when clicking links that are embedded in an email message. If it’s a link from an unsolicited company, type in the URL address directly instead. The displayed link is not always the same as the link that is programmed in the message.

5. Web sites aren’t always what they seem. Take a moment to verify that the Web page address you’re visiting matches exactly with the URL that you expected to reach.

6. Logoff from sites when you are done. When you are ready to leave a site you have logged in to, click the “logoff” button or link rather than just closing the page.

7. Monitor account activity. Monitor your account activity regularly either online or by reviewing your monthly statements and report any unauthorized transactions immediately.

What to Expect from Priority One Credit Union

1. Priority One will never call, email or otherwise contact you and ask for your user name, password or other online banking credentials.

2. Priority One will NEVER contact you and ask about your credit or debit card number, PIN or 3-digit CVC security code.

3. Our debit card provider will never contact you and ask for your card number, expiration date or 3-digit CVC security code.

4. If you are uncomfortable with any call you receive regarding your account, please hang up and call us at 877.762.8663 to verify that the call came from the Priority One.

Rights and Responsibilities

With respect to online banking and electronic fund transfers, the Federal government has put in place rights and responsibilities for both you and the Credit Union. These rights and responsibilities are described in the Electronic Services Agreement & Disclosure you received when you opened your account with Priority One Credit Union. Please reach out to the credit union for the disclosure.

In addition, the State of California provides important information on Consumer Rights in Electronic Fund Transfers. Please reach out to the credit union for more info.

Report an Incident

If you receive an e-mail or text that you think is suspicious and involves Priority One Credit Union, please report it to the Credit Union at info@priorityonecu.org. Also report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Law enforcement needs to know.

Identity Theft Prevention

Every two seconds, another American becomes a victim of identity fraud. Thieves who want to obtain personal information have many ways to try to get this information. They use the information in an attempt to open credit accounts in the consumer’s name, leaving only the bills and the negative credit history to be sorted out by others.  Recouping losses and clearing your credit will take money and time.  As your trusted financial partner, your identity protection is important to us.  We already have procedures in place to detect warning signs of identity theft, such as unusual account activity, and we take immediate action and the appropriate steps to prevent and mitigate any potential identity theft event.

One of the best ways that you can protect your personal information is to obtain a copy of your credit report at least once a year to review for any errors. The Federal government mandated that the three biggest credit-reporting companies each provide a free credit report (not to include a credit score) to consumers at least once a year. To do this, the reporting companies joined forces to create Annual Credit Report.com.

There are three different methods of obtaining your credit report. You can visit www.annualcreditreport.com, call 877.322.8228, or mail a standardized form (downloaded from credit reporting agency Web sites) to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

(Note: there are for–profit Web sites operating that give credit reports for a fee. The above-mentioned site is the official site as provided by Federal law.)

Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission publishes many helpful information pieces that explain identity theft and the steps you should take to guard your personal information. Click through to the FTC sites for information:

1. A good overview of the identity fraud problem and suggestions to protect your personal information, furnished by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

2. To report an identity theft occurrence, obtain an identity theft affidavit, furnished by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Priority Guard Checking

If you haven’t yet, consider signing up for Priority Guard with ID Protect. Get ID and Credit fraud protection round the clock.

Fraudulent schemes (scams and cyber crime)

Email “phishing” - Phishing is a scam to steal valuable information such as credit card and Social Security numbers, user IDs, and passwords. In phishing, an official-looking e-mail is sent pretending to be from a bank, credit union or retail establishment.

Telephone “vishing” - Vishing (Voice phishing) is the voice counterpart to phishing. Instead of being directed by e-mail to a website, an e-mail message asks the user to make a telephone call. The call triggers a voice response system, which asks for the user’s personal or financial information.

Text Message “smishing” - Smishing (SMS Phishing) is the mobile phone counterpart to phishing. A text message is sent to the user’s cell phone with some ploy to click on a link and send personal information through text messages.

Mail “letter phishing” - This new scam is where a letter is sent through the mail to individuals to respond by calling a phone number. The letter advises the individual that they must respond for their own protection.

Reduce your risk of becoming a victim

• Never provide personal information if you did not initiate the contact.

• Never click on the link provided in an email you believe may be fraudulent. It may also contain a virus that can contaminate your computer. Go to the company’s website directly.

• Review account statements regularly to ensure all charges and transactions are correct.

• If you never entered the lottery, you can’t win. You can’t win a prize in a lottery if you didn’t buy a lottery ticket.

• Look at the sender’s e-mail address. Most scammers use free e-mail accounts such as AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, etc.

What do you do if you receive an e-mail that looks like a phishing attempt?

• Never enter personal information. Social Security Numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers or PINs in response to an unsolicited e-mail.

• Do not click on the link. It’s tempting — but don’t! Once transferred to the phisher’s Web site, some Web sites will try to infect your computer with a variety of harmful computer viruses – just by going to the fraudulent Web site. Keep up-to-date virus software, to help guard against any e-mail or Internet intrusions.

• Report the incident. If you receive an e-mail phishing attempt with Priority One Credit Union’s name, send it to the Credit Union at info@priorityonecu.org. Also report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Law enforcement needs to know.

• Don’t feel pressured to divulge information. Scare tactics like threatening to close an account or suspend services are often used to try to get action on a phishing e-mail. If you feel pressure, contact the merchant (using the phone number you look up) to confirm anything before you act.

• Educate family and friends about the epidemic. Explain what is happening with e-mail scams so others don’t become victims (especially to novice computer users, who may be trusting of all e-mails). When people recognize the scams and stop responding to them, the criminals will stop sending the e-mails.

• Delete the emails from your computer. Immediately erase the phishing e-mails so they can never be accessed by accident.

Have you responded to a phishing attempt?

Many people don’t realize they’ve responded to a phishing attempt until they see their statement, get a call from a financial institution about unusual activity or realize what they’ve done when they read notices like these.

If you think you have entered personal information of any kind in response to an e-mail, notify the business immediately. The sooner the business is notified, the sooner they can reduce the possibility of a theft.

If you think you responded to any fraudulent scheme such as e-mail phishing scam and entered Priority One Credit Union account, debit card or PIN information in the site, please call the Credit Union immediately at 877.762.8663.

Malware and other cyber attacks

Malware – Malicious software – or malware - is used to gather sensitive information, gain access to private systems or to spy on consumers.  Malware can affect any device from your phone, computer, tablet and even ATMs! Be sure to run anti-malware software and enable auto-updates.  If you believe that you may have been a victim of malware, be sure to clean your device from any malware before entering and/or accessing sensitive information.

Ransomware - This is a popular malware that denies access to the user.  Ransomware may prevent you from accessing files, programs or other important items in your infected device.  Precautionary measures are the best way to prevent ransomware.  Be sure to keep backup copies of your sensitive information offline, such as external storage devices. 

Data Breaches – Data breaches at retail and service companies are on the news more often than ever before.  While most of the breaches are the result of “insiders” and “human error,” some data breaches are caused by malware. If you use your debit cards at a retailer with a data breach, Priority One will take proper action to inform you and replace your debit card.

Internet Crime Complaint Center: https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx