Prevent ID Theft: Protecting Yourself Online

Financial crime and identity theft can happen to anyone. By learning how to recognize phishing–one of the most common types of online fraud–you can protect your personal and financial information while browsing the Web.

What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft can be defined as the fraudulent use of another person's personal information for profit. Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and other personal identifying information are common targets for identity thieves. With this information, the thieves can open bank accounts in your name, effectively pretending to be you and ripping you off for a lot of money. This can damage your credit history and can stay with you forever.

What is "Phishing"?

"Phishing" is the use of email and fraudulent websites to trick recipients into disclosing personal financial information, such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, account names, passwords and addresses.

How is Phishing Accomplished?

Phishing, or email fraud, is accomplished through the use of emails that "spoof" or mimic those of legitimate institutions–including banks and credit unions. The emails attempt to mislead the recipient into "confirming" or submitting personal and/or financial information.

There are many ploys used to convince users to divulge their personal information. For example, the message may state a breach of security or a new operating system as a reason to "confirm" an account holder's personal information. Spoofed emails usually contain a link that takes the recipient to a bogus website to capture their personal data.

Because it can be very difficult to identify these counterfeit emails, it is important to remember that UW Credit Union will never send an unsolicited email that requests you to "confirm" or "update" your password or account information.

Protect Yourself from Phishing

• Maintain a level of skepticism when you receive an email from a financial institution or company that requests your personal information. If you did not initiate the communication, it is likely a phishing attempt.
• Ignore unsolicited email that asks you to submit your personal information, even if it looks like it comes from a friend or contact or appears to be legitimate.
• Never use links embedded in an email. Because phishing scams use deceptive links, it is safer to use bookmarks or type in the website address (URL) to reach the site that you want to visit.
• Validate that you are connected to an encrypted website by ensuring https:// appears at the beginning of the URL. Also, validate the authenticity of the SSL certificate by double-clicking the "lock" icon at the bottom of your browser to view the certificate.
• Keep your Internet browser and operating system up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates.
• Use anti-virus software and ensure that it is updated regularly.

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