According to the Federal Trade Commission, someone in the U.S. becomes a victim of identity fraud every 14 seconds. While shopping in-store and online, it’s important to protect yourself and your money.
MSUFCU Chief Marketing Officer, Deidre Davis is here to share ways you can keep your financial accounts safe this holiday shopping season.
It’s important to stay ahead of scammers by knowing the most common types of fraud including identity theft, online scams, phishing, smishing, and vishing.
Identity theft is the use of your credit history or other personal information to make purchases or borrow money without your permission.
Online scams can vary, but they typically rely on deceptive communication or tactics to trick you into providing confidential information online so fraudsters can access your financial accounts.
With phishing, smishing, and vishing, fraudsters will craft an email, text message, social media post, or call claiming to be from a reputable company to obtain sensitive and personal information.
Being proactive is the best defense against fraud. Monitoring your account transactions regularly is a quick, easy way to catch and report any suspicious activity to your financial institution. When it comes to your account security, using strong passwords such as a passphrase — a long phrase with numbers, symbols, and upper and lowercase letters — will make it more difficult for scammers to access your financial information.
If your debit card, credit card, or checks are lost or stolen, contact your financial institution or card issuer right away. Your institution can lock debit and credit cards to prevent them from being used, reissue new cards, and help you monitor your accounts for any fraudulent activity. For checks, your institution can help you issue a stop payment so that the check is not paid out if it is deposited or presented to be cashed by fraudsters.
With the MSUFCU Mobile app and ComputerLine®, our online account management system, members can lock and unlock their debit and credit cards at any time. Members also can monitor their accounts with eAlerts, which sends daily account balances, transaction notifications, check clearings, and more through text or email.
To learn about additional safeguards MSUFCU has in place, visit msufcu.org/securitycenter.
This segment is sponsored by MSUFCU.
