FRAUD Fraud, in its various forms, has become a serious impact to our membership. As such, we've developed this page to provide information on common scams and ideas on how to avoid becoming a victim. As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to stop by or give us a call. Latest News TJ Max Hacked (1/17/2007) TJX, a large merchant, announced its card data had been compromised. They own T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Bob’s Stores and A.J. Wright in the U.S., Winners and HomeSense in Canada, and T.K. Maxx in Europe. Due to the magnitude of the issue, we are sending letters to ALL affected members immediately, recommending they replace their cards. Note that no fraud has yet been detected. We will update this notice as conditions warrant. Thieves Steal Personal Data of 26.5M Vets (5/22/06) Now even the government is losing personal information, in this case 26.5 million (with a "m", folks) were lost when a government employee took home the data to his house and had it stolen. Well's Fargo loses laptop and 200,000 names (5/15/06) In April of 2006, a laptop containing 200,000 names was stolen from Fidelity Investments (which is owned by Wells Fargo). Wells is offering free credit reports to affected individuals. New Browsers Safer? (6/20/06) Microsoft (explorer) and Opera Software ASA (Opera) are both announcing new versions that not only focus on use enhancement, but on security as well. Internet explorer 6 has been the most attacked browser, namely due to it being on so many PC's throughout the world. This is the first major change for Explorer, which has aged over 5 years since its last release. Thieves Steal Personal Data of 26.5M Vets (5/22/06) Now even the government is losing personal information, in this case 26.5 million (with a "m", folks) were lost when a government employee took home the data to his house and had it stolen. Well's Fargo loses laptop and 200,000 names (5/15/06) In April of 2006, a laptop containing 200,000 names was stolen from Fidelity Investments (which is owned by Wells Fargo). Wells is offering free credit reports to affected individuals. Other Scams and information... Cashiers Checks Scams We've noticed a few of these coming through. Typically, you'll have something for sale (auto, boat, teenager, whatever). You'll be contacted from someone, typically not local, and offered a full price offer. They may call, write a letter or use e-mail. The catch is that they need to pay you with some form of a check in an amount GREATER than the value of your item. The reason, you will be told, is to pay shipping, taxes or something else. They will ask you return the excess via wire or cashiers check for this excess amount. In the end, their check is bad and you'll be sending the excess from your account directly to the scammer. Lottery Scam This is similar to the cashier's check scam, but typically involves you winning an astronomical amount of money and if you just do a little bit, then it's yours for the taking. Sometimes this will also arrive as the infamous "Nigerian" scam, where a huge amount of money is available and they've picked YOU (out of 300 million other americans, as the lucky recipient). Just like the cashiers check scam, there is no lottery and no winnings. Phishing Scams No, I didn't spell that incorrectly. This is where you'll receive an e-mail claiming to be from someone you recognize (O Bee for example). It will ask you to go to a website and enter banking and other personal information. More sophisticated scams will first send you a notice that your account may have been compromised. They will then follow this up with another to say that it has been compromised. The first e-mail is to build a bit of trust and the second is to get the information. The e-mails and websites used may look VERY convincing. They may have logos, links and other identifiable marks that add to your sense of comfort. However, remember this: Most firms NEVER ask for information over e-mail. This includes the IRS, the NCUA and, of course, O Bee. Report any phishing scams to the company being faked. For more information, read the NCUA's brochure (Requires Adobe Acrobat) Viruses, Trojans and Spyware Nope, this is not the name of my latest rock group (although it has potential). These are programs that can actually compromise your home computer. While many are not incredibly harmful, there have been reported instances of keyboard loggers that send usernames and passwords to criminals. To thwart this threat: Make sure you have all security patches offered by your operating system maker: Microsoft or Apple. Use a virus scanner and make sure there you've got the lastest scan files. We don't endorse any products, but one, AVG from Grisoft is free. Don't open e-mails you are not certain what they are. If in doubt, "throw it out". Use a spyware scanner regularly. Again, we don't endorse any, but ADAWARE from Lavasoft is also free. Credit Reports To prevent identity theft, we strongly recommend you scan your credit report at least once per year. There are two ways to do this. First, you can go to ANNUAL FREE CREDIT REPORT and ask for one. You may also call us and setup an appointment with a representative who can take you through your report (who knows, we may even find something we can help you with. Also, remember that holders of our Mastercard, Visa Platinum and Visa Debit cards automatically have access to an identity theft kit and $1,000 of identity theft insurance. Important Resources CREDIT REPORTING FIRMS: www.experian.com www.transunion.com www.equifax.com FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ID Phone:1-877-ID THEFT Web: www.consumer.gov/idtheft SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 1-800-269-0271 Last updated on Friday December 07, 2007