ID Theft
Identity theft complaints have increased significantly in recent years and is always atop the government's list of consumer fraud complaints. Riegel Federal Credit Union has always taken our members confidentiality and privacy very seriously and have policies in place to help keep your identity secure. This includes the Verified by Visa service offered by the Credit Union. You can password protect purchases when shopping at participating merchants on the internet with your Riegel Check Card. Verified by Visa is a free service offered to all Riegel Check Card and Riegel VISA card holders. You can register by clicking on the logo below:
BEWARE: The Credit Union will NEVER ask you to provide personal information and/or account login or password via an email. Please be aware of any emails you may receive that appear to be from the Credit Union requesting such information. This type of scheme is called "PHISHING". Phishers send an email or pop-up message that claims to be from a business or organization that you may deal with - for example, an Internet service provider (ISP), bank, online payment service, or even a government agency. The message may ask you to "update," "validate," or "confirm" your account information. Some phishing emails threaten a dire consequence if you don't respond. The messages direct you to a website that looks just like a legitimate organization's site. But it isn't. It's a bogus site whose sole purpose is 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.
You can learn more about PHISHING from the FTC anti-phishing site.
Many people have the misconception that identity theft is primarily an online and/or Internet related problem. However, The 2005 Javelin Identity Fraud Survey Report released by the Better Business Bureau and Javelin Strategy & Research as an update of the Federal Trade Commission's 2003 Identity Theft Survey Report and Javelin's 2003 Identity Theft Report, shows that despite growing fears about identity theft and online fraud, of the victims that know the identity and method used by the criminal, these crimes are more frequently committed offline than online. Internet-related fraud problems are actually less severe, less costly and not as widespread as previously thought.
Further, the study concludes that those who access accounts online can provide earlier detection of crime than those who rely only upon mailed monthly paper statements. By managing their financial activities online, consumers can reduce access to personal information on paper bills and statements that may be used to commit identity theft and fraud. Victims of identity theft who detected the crime by monitoring accounts online experienced financial losses that were less than one-eighth of those who detected the crime via paper statements.
Other highlights from the report:
- The most frequently reported source of information used to commit fraud was a lost or stolen wallet or checkbook. Computer crimes accounted for just 11.6 percent of all known-cause identity fraud in 2004; and half of these digitally-driven crimes stem from spyware -- software the computer user unknowingly installs to make ads pop up when the user is online.
- Among cases where the perpetrator's identity is known, half of all identity fraud is committed by a friend, family member, relative, neighbor or in-home employee.
- A wide variety of metrics confirm that identity fraud problems are not worsening, with the total number of victims in decline.
- The majority of identity fraud crimes are self-detected.
ID thieves typically steal personal information from outside mailboxes and dumpsters, through telemarketing scams, computer hacking and paying workers in retail establishments or other institutions to copy down information about customers.
Protecting Against ID Theft
The following is a list of links to resources of information on how to protect yourself from ID Theft and what to do in case you are a victim:
Credit Bureaus
ID Theft Links
