Fraud Awareness and Theft

As online shopping increases so does the chance of encountering online fraud. It’s always important to protect yourself, but what steps are the most effective? Check out these tips to prevent, identify, and fight online scammers before you start shopping online.

You cannot be too careful these days!

For great information to help you shop securely, click here.

Giving to a Charity?

Fundraisers and Charities use the phone, email, internet, and mobile devices to solicit donations. Unfortunately, scammers use these same avenues to solicit your funds too.

Seven things to do before you donate to a charity:

• Ask for detailed information about the charity including address, phone number, etc…
• Research the charity name online for any complaints or scam warnings
• Call the charity directly and verify the solicitation method you received from them
• Examine if the charity is registered by contacting the National Association of State Charity Officials
• Research how much of your donation will go to the fundraiser they are promoting
• Know the difference between tax-deductible and tax-exempt
• Never send cash donations
• Don’t pay with wire transfers or gift cards. Scammers ask you to pay that way because these payment methods are hard to track.
• Do not give out a credit card or account information until you have researched the charity fully
• Be very cautious of charities that pop up quickly after a natural disaster or current event
• Your account statements. Make sure you’re only charged the amount you agreed to donate. Keep a record of all donations. You may need them later if your donations are tax-deductible.

If you think you have been scammed by a fraudulent charity or solicitation, please file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

Report scams to:

• The FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov your state charity regulator. Find who that is at nasconet.org.

Identity theft is a very serious crime and can take years to recover from. Identity theft involves someone taking your personal information and using it without your permission. Identity theft can happen in many different ways.

For a printable brochure, click here.

• Regular bills and credit card statements not arriving on time
• Mistakes on your bank account or credit card statements
• Collection notices or bills for products or services you never ordered
• Debt collectors calling for debts that do not belong to you
• Businesses denying your check
• Unexpectedly turned down for credit or loan
• Mail or email is received in your minor child’s name

• Check your credit report periodically. You have the right to a FREE credit report every week! You can go to annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228
• Pay close attention to your bank and credit card statements for mistakes or odd transactions
• Shred all your paperwork that may have any financial or personal information on it
• Never give personal information via email, text, or by phone messages if possible
• Use creative passwords and do not use the same password for multiple logins
• Online shop or enter personal information on secure websites. Look for the “https”
• Use and update anti-virus software on your computer
• If you are using a public wireless network, don’t send personal information

• STEP 1 -Call Credit Agencies to place a fraud alert on your credit. Equifax 1-800-525-6285 Experian 1-888-397-3742 TransUnion 1-800-680-7289
• STEP 2 –Order your credit reports from the credit agencies. Look over your credit reports and turn in any mistakes or discrepancies immediately.
• STEP 3 –Report Identity Theft with the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov or call 1-877-438-4338. Then take the FTC affidavit to your local police department and file a report. Retain a copy of the police report for your records with the FTC Affidavit.

Protect yourself from mail check fraud by following these helpful tips:

• Promptly pick up mail. Do not leave letters or packages out for long lengths of time
• Deposit mail containing personal or financial information as close to pick-up time as possible
• Inquire promptly if you have not received a package, credit card, or payment that you were expecting
• Do not send cash in the mail
• Make sure to file an address change with the postal service when moving
• Request signature confirmation if needed

If you are a victim of check fraud via mail theft, please call the bank immediately and visit: https://www.uspis.gov/report or call the USPIS hotline at 1-877-876-2455.

CATOs occur when cyber thieves gain control of systems by stealing sensitive employee credentials and information. Criminals can then initiate fraudulent wire transfers and transactions through the ACH to any account. Thieves typically access a computer via malicious software (malware) that can infect a computer through e-mail, websites, or as malware disguised as software.

• Domestic and International Wire Transfers
• Business-to-Business ACH payments
• Online Bill Pay and electronic payroll payments have all been used to commit this crime

• User contracts malware
• Phishing
• Browsing to an infected website
• Zeus, SpyEye, other banking trojans
• Malware waits or is preparing to phone home
• Waits for the user to log into a sensitive site, e.g. internet banking
• Steals login credentials, sends them to a foreign server
• Piggybacks on an ACH/Wire on valid transaction
• Change wire transfer information
• Informs the user that internet banking is not available or initiates a DDoS to the internet banking site.

Educate all employees on this type of fraud scheme:

• Review risky behavior with employees, especially when opening unsolicited emails.
• Educate employees on what suspicious websites and malicious “computer optimization” software looks like.

Enhance the security of computer networks:

• Install and maintain anti-virus, anti-malware, and anti-spam programs that periodically scan file systems.
• Utilize firewalls and routers to restrict network access.
• Ensure that programs are consistently updated through an organized patching process.