Fraud Protection Protect yourself from identity theft...
You hear it in the media almost daily now, fraud is on the rise across all channels...criminals are finding more and more ways to take advantage of innocent people via social media, phone, text and email. As your credit union, we want to help you protect yourself from being the victim of fraudulent activity.
Beware of unexpected phone calls & Texts...protect yourself:
- Unless you have been expecting a call or text, or have already initiated a request, do not provide account or personal info. to anyone pretending to be from Qualstar – call us directly to verify if the request is legitimate.
- Report unwanted/suspicious contact to https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ and forward any unwanted/suspicious texts to the Federal Trade Commission at 7726 (SPAM)
- Stay informed of current fraud trends: https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-robocalls-and-texts
- If you do answer a call from an unknown source, or receive a text, and suspect it’s fraudulent:
- Hang up immediately and block/report the number on your phone.
- Never give out your personal information (account number, Social Security number, mother’s maiden name, username and passwords, PIN or card numbers) or any other identifying information in response to these unexpected calls and texts.
- If the caller or automated system asks you to hit a button to stop calls, simply hang up the phone. Scammers often use this trick to identify potential targets.
- If it is an automated call do not respond to any questions (verbally or by pressing a number), especially those that can be answered with “Yes” or “No”
- If the call or text comes to you from someone who states they are an agent from an organization you have a relationship with, hang up and call that organization directly.
- Use caution if the caller or text is pressuring you or presents any sense of urgency – typically these panic techniques are used to confuse the responder.
- Set a password for your voice mailbox on your phone to prevent hackers from impersonating your phone number to listen to your messages.
- Talk to your phone company about phone blocking tools they have in place to help weed out bad calls and texts as much as possible.
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What WE Can Do
We will never ask a third party or credit union affiliated organization to request this type of information from you. It is our goal to keep your information safe!
Mobile and Home Banking 1 are secure with additional safety and verification measures. As a Mobile and/or Home Banking user, there are a few things built-in to our Online Services to help ensure your account information and access is protected:
- New enrollment requires a verification PIN sent to the mobile phone number on the account
- A verification PIN will be prompted when logging-in to a new device, or if cookies have been cleared – you may also be prompted to re-register your device at other times (e.g. updating or installing a new app version)
- Changing contact information within Mobile1 or Home Banking requires a verification step
- 2-Factor Authentication can be turned on manually (under Settings>Security), which will prompt a verification PIN with each log-in (Qualstar does not have access to this function; it can only be turned on or off by a user who has log-in access)
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What YOU Can Do
Keep Your Online Access Active! Regularly logging in to your account via Mobile and/or Home Banking to check your account balances and confirm only authorized transactions are clearing is the BEST way to catch fraud. For security purposes, as noted in the Online Services Agreement, accounts without one log-in within a 6-month period will be deactivated and require re-enrollment for access – be sure to log-in at least once a month!
Report Automated “Phishing” Calls or Texts! Qualstar will never make an automated call or send a text to inquire or request information regarding an account or loan you have with us. It is not our practice to use an automated system for this purpose, and if you do receive such a call please hang up immediately (do not enter any numbers or say anything) and contact us at 1-800-848-0018 to report the call.
Go paperless with eStatements! Reducing the amount of personal information you have lying around is a good start – and, if something accidentally makes it into the garbage (instead of shred), your information is out there for anyone to capitalize on. Qualstar offers eStatements for every statement we sent out, and you only need to enroll once! Mobile/Home Banking 1 access is required and you can enroll by choosing the “eStatements” widget – it will show whether or not you are currently subscribed. With eStatements, you’ll have access to all current statements (Account, Visa®, Mortgage, Option Equity & Tax statements) and past statements going back 2 years (from the time of enrollment.)
Set-up Text and/or Email Account Notifications! Within Mobile and Home Banking, you have the ability to assign specific alerts (text, push or email) for triggers such as withdrawals over/under a certain amount, Visa credit or debit card transactions by specific amount, checks clearing, an address change, insufficient funds in your account, and even if an invalid log-in has been attempted in Home Banking. To set up eAlerts, simply log-in to Home or Mobile Banking and go to the Alerts widget (alerts are viewable as text, email or push notifications.)
![Balance ID Theft]()
BALANCE Identity Theft Solutions will help you prevent identity theft – or take the necessary steps to recover if you’ve been victimized. These tools are free to you as a benefit of membership at Qualstar.
Mobile Device Safety Links & Updates
Here are a few resources to help identify potential fraud and prevent yourself from getting scammed:
“Phishing” Links & Updates
Phishing is an e-mail/internet scam that attempts to trick the victim into providing personal and account information through fake websites or reply e-mails, and is also the fastest growing crime in the United States. The following are several web sites with tips on protecting yourself from phishing scams:
Identity Theft Links & Updates
Following are some web sites with tips on avoiding identity theft:
Here are more tips and suggestions:
- Make sure you are well informed and keep your computer up to date with current spam filters and anti-virus software;
- Avoid using out-of-date software versions that have vulnerabilities easy to exploit. Software companies issue patches and updates, so be sure to use them. Out of date Java software in particular has been a gateway for Trojan infections, say researchers;
- Run full-system virus scans at least once a week;
- Use caution when entering user names and passwords and enter these slowly to give time to back out if something doesn’t seem right;
- Regularly visit the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center for scam & scheme updates;
- Have a computer expert remove any malware. Even if you succeed in unfreezing the computer, keyloggers and other malware may still be operating in the background; and
- Never pay money or provide personal information to a suspicious online entity.
1 Carrier data and messaging rates may apply.
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