It can be the most comfortable, dazzling,
accessible shopping mall of all, the Internet.
But even if you’re snug at home in your PJs, you could be the victim of a digital pickpocket, said Shelly Buller, senior vice president of Member Services at Fibre Federal Credit Union in Cowlitz County.
The best advice when using credit cards to pay online vendors, Buller said, “is to stick with familiar, established retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Macy’s.
“Online, people have a tendency to be more vulnerable. You’re looking for something, and you find it from a vendor you’re not familiar with. Maybe their security is not as strong as a big retailer.”
All kinds of vendors pass on consumers’ information for profit, Buller said. “When people shop for weight-loss products and vitamins, they may fall prey to ‘side sales’ — the vendor they order from sells their name and information to another vendor,” and that second party may sell it to a third party.
“It becomes quite a headache to stop the deductions from your account, for something you didn’t want to begin with,” she said. “With better security, there’s less risk ...
“Consumers are well protected using a credit card,” Buller said, and banks and credit unions usually cover losses when they are reported as soon as they’re noticed.
Aside from thieves who get credit card numbers by searching trash for receipts and other financial records, there’s also a risk when employees at smaller retailers or food vendors go away with a card and return in a few minutes — enough time to take a photo with a smart phone.
Echoing Federal Trade Commission guidelines, Buller said the best practice is to check your account balances and purchases regularly so you’ll notice odd charges.
The biggest risks are scammers who get people to willingly give them information or wire them money, said James Gorley of Fibre Federal Credit Union, who represents FFCU on the Anti-fraud Coalition of Cowlitz County, which includes about 70 members from law enforcement, finance institutions and retailers.
“If we band together,” Gorley said, “we can alert each other and work together to help stop fraud.”
The members hear stories all the time, he said, where common sense is thwarted by hope and a bright computer screen.
“A very common fraud is ‘phishing,’ ” Buller said, the use of email, phone, “even texting” messages that try to trick people into giving out information that can be used to access their accounts or create duplicates of their cards.
Sometimes the caller pretends to be the bank, a particularly insidious scam.We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product - the most durable. The caller, concerned that your account has been compromised, needs your card number and security code to keep you safe.
On some sites, sending money before getting the product is not wise, Gorley said.
“Somebody on Craigslist says ‘Hey, we’re selling puppies’ or ‘I’m selling a 1983 Chevette from a collection in Dubai,’ ” Gorley said. The sellers then ask for airfare upfront to ship the bulldogs or vintage roadser. And people buy it.
“I know people who have taken money out of their retirement accounts” in cases like these, Gorley said.
The newest scam technique is to focus on vulnerable people, he said, “the elderly, the unemployed, people getting benefits.Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. I don’t know where (the scammers) get the information. They may contact someone as many as three times,” pressuring them with a deal. Or they pretend to be a grandchild in dire straights who needs Grandpa to wire money right away.
People should never respond to these come-ons, Gorley said.
“We try to educate them, to explain the risk,” he said of consumers, but even publicized warnings do not stop some who are frightened about a loved one and want to do the right thing, or those who are desperate to believe they’ve won a windfall.
In the lottery scams, the thieves send a check that looks real and passes like a real check.
People say “ ‘Oh, I won the lottery in Europe!’ ” Gorley said. “I say, ‘Do you know foreign lotteries are illegal?’ They don’t. ‘Did you enter a lottery in Europe?’ They didn’t. ...
“If you cash that check, you will be responsible to cover it” when it bounces.Our precision manufactured lasers and laser systems deliver the highest possible laser cutter performance on a wide variety of materials. In the meantime, you’ve spent the money on bills, food or other items — and used it to wire “tax” or other “fees” to the scammer. “Now you owe it all back to the bank.”
Buller said she’s talked to “intelligent people who say, ‘I was duped. It seemed like such a great deal.’ I just got hosed.” She shook her head. “If it seems too good to be true, it (begin ital) is (end ital) too good to be true.”
One pitfall we all face is complacency, because it’s so easy to carry and use debit and credit cards.
“Cards are a negotiating instrument,” Buller said, “just like cash. You have to be cautious.
“If you give your card to a family member to go get bread and milk, and you share your PIN, you have just compromised your security.”
People who are ill or infirm and need help shopping should consider a “joint signer,” a trusted person authorized to use the card. “That individual would have their own card.”
Buller warned people never to leave credit cards, checkbooks and other pieces of identification where others can find them.
At parties (including at your own residence), bridal showers, funerals,wind turbine anywhere where a crowd gathers in a place where outsiders could slip in, there’s a risk.
“Guess what? Someone can go in that room and have a heyday,Our precision manufactured lasers and laser marker systems deliver the highest possible laser marking performance.” Buller said. “It happens all the time.”
It’s also easy to leave a debit or credit card behind when someone is distracted or in a hurry at the check-out line.
And, despite well publicized warnings, Buller said she still sees shoppers leave purses in grocery carts while they dart off to grab items. If the thief takes only your billfold, you may not even notice until you get to the checkout stand — and the varmint is long gone.
Another scam, in Vancouver and California, rigs ATM machines and gas pumps to skim data. “It doesn’t look any different, but the perpetrators install cameras. Then they create their own cards.”
Buller said it can be helpful to live in a community small enough that credit unions know their customers. “You can call up Red Canoe or Fibre Federal from England, and they will help you with your questions.”
She also reminded travelers to let their banks or credit unions know when and where they will be traveling, so a hold will not be put on their credit cards when out-of-town transactions pop up.
Gorley and the fraud coalition put on workshops to share information they glean from customers and hold an annual, public, free shredder event after tax day in April, to encourage consumers to shred old documents that have social security numbers and financial data.
But even if you’re snug at home in your PJs, you could be the victim of a digital pickpocket, said Shelly Buller, senior vice president of Member Services at Fibre Federal Credit Union in Cowlitz County.
The best advice when using credit cards to pay online vendors, Buller said, “is to stick with familiar, established retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Macy’s.
“Online, people have a tendency to be more vulnerable. You’re looking for something, and you find it from a vendor you’re not familiar with. Maybe their security is not as strong as a big retailer.”
All kinds of vendors pass on consumers’ information for profit, Buller said. “When people shop for weight-loss products and vitamins, they may fall prey to ‘side sales’ — the vendor they order from sells their name and information to another vendor,” and that second party may sell it to a third party.
“It becomes quite a headache to stop the deductions from your account, for something you didn’t want to begin with,” she said. “With better security, there’s less risk ...
“Consumers are well protected using a credit card,” Buller said, and banks and credit unions usually cover losses when they are reported as soon as they’re noticed.
Aside from thieves who get credit card numbers by searching trash for receipts and other financial records, there’s also a risk when employees at smaller retailers or food vendors go away with a card and return in a few minutes — enough time to take a photo with a smart phone.
Echoing Federal Trade Commission guidelines, Buller said the best practice is to check your account balances and purchases regularly so you’ll notice odd charges.
The biggest risks are scammers who get people to willingly give them information or wire them money, said James Gorley of Fibre Federal Credit Union, who represents FFCU on the Anti-fraud Coalition of Cowlitz County, which includes about 70 members from law enforcement, finance institutions and retailers.
“If we band together,” Gorley said, “we can alert each other and work together to help stop fraud.”
The members hear stories all the time, he said, where common sense is thwarted by hope and a bright computer screen.
“A very common fraud is ‘phishing,’ ” Buller said, the use of email, phone, “even texting” messages that try to trick people into giving out information that can be used to access their accounts or create duplicates of their cards.
Sometimes the caller pretends to be the bank, a particularly insidious scam.We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product - the most durable. The caller, concerned that your account has been compromised, needs your card number and security code to keep you safe.
On some sites, sending money before getting the product is not wise, Gorley said.
“Somebody on Craigslist says ‘Hey, we’re selling puppies’ or ‘I’m selling a 1983 Chevette from a collection in Dubai,’ ” Gorley said. The sellers then ask for airfare upfront to ship the bulldogs or vintage roadser. And people buy it.
“I know people who have taken money out of their retirement accounts” in cases like these, Gorley said.
The newest scam technique is to focus on vulnerable people, he said, “the elderly, the unemployed, people getting benefits.Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. I don’t know where (the scammers) get the information. They may contact someone as many as three times,” pressuring them with a deal. Or they pretend to be a grandchild in dire straights who needs Grandpa to wire money right away.
People should never respond to these come-ons, Gorley said.
“We try to educate them, to explain the risk,” he said of consumers, but even publicized warnings do not stop some who are frightened about a loved one and want to do the right thing, or those who are desperate to believe they’ve won a windfall.
In the lottery scams, the thieves send a check that looks real and passes like a real check.
People say “ ‘Oh, I won the lottery in Europe!’ ” Gorley said. “I say, ‘Do you know foreign lotteries are illegal?’ They don’t. ‘Did you enter a lottery in Europe?’ They didn’t. ...
“If you cash that check, you will be responsible to cover it” when it bounces.Our precision manufactured lasers and laser systems deliver the highest possible laser cutter performance on a wide variety of materials. In the meantime, you’ve spent the money on bills, food or other items — and used it to wire “tax” or other “fees” to the scammer. “Now you owe it all back to the bank.”
Buller said she’s talked to “intelligent people who say, ‘I was duped. It seemed like such a great deal.’ I just got hosed.” She shook her head. “If it seems too good to be true, it (begin ital) is (end ital) too good to be true.”
One pitfall we all face is complacency, because it’s so easy to carry and use debit and credit cards.
“Cards are a negotiating instrument,” Buller said, “just like cash. You have to be cautious.
“If you give your card to a family member to go get bread and milk, and you share your PIN, you have just compromised your security.”
People who are ill or infirm and need help shopping should consider a “joint signer,” a trusted person authorized to use the card. “That individual would have their own card.”
Buller warned people never to leave credit cards, checkbooks and other pieces of identification where others can find them.
At parties (including at your own residence), bridal showers, funerals,wind turbine anywhere where a crowd gathers in a place where outsiders could slip in, there’s a risk.
“Guess what? Someone can go in that room and have a heyday,Our precision manufactured lasers and laser marker systems deliver the highest possible laser marking performance.” Buller said. “It happens all the time.”
It’s also easy to leave a debit or credit card behind when someone is distracted or in a hurry at the check-out line.
And, despite well publicized warnings, Buller said she still sees shoppers leave purses in grocery carts while they dart off to grab items. If the thief takes only your billfold, you may not even notice until you get to the checkout stand — and the varmint is long gone.
Another scam, in Vancouver and California, rigs ATM machines and gas pumps to skim data. “It doesn’t look any different, but the perpetrators install cameras. Then they create their own cards.”
Buller said it can be helpful to live in a community small enough that credit unions know their customers. “You can call up Red Canoe or Fibre Federal from England, and they will help you with your questions.”
She also reminded travelers to let their banks or credit unions know when and where they will be traveling, so a hold will not be put on their credit cards when out-of-town transactions pop up.
Gorley and the fraud coalition put on workshops to share information they glean from customers and hold an annual, public, free shredder event after tax day in April, to encourage consumers to shred old documents that have social security numbers and financial data.
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