Deter. Detect. Defend.

An identity theft perpetrator may use a variety of tactics to obtain your personal information and drain your finances.

Some of their techniques are:

• Posing as a loan officer and ordering your credit report (which lists lines of credit);
   
• “Shoulder surfing” at the ATM or public phone to get your PIN code;
   
• “Dumpster diving” in trash bins behind businesses or apartments for un-shredded credit applications, canceled checks, bank records or any documents containing personal information; or, stealing mail right out of your own mailbox.

Prevent Your Personal Information from Being Lost of Stolen

• Through your mail or trash. Shred all mail or documents with personal information on it. Sign up for United Poles Federal Credit Union E-Statements. Since 90% of data comprised is through traditional offl ine channels and not via the internet, e-Statements and online bill pay drastically reduce the amount of circulating paperwork with your personal information.
   
• Through electronic methods. Always be highly suspicious of e-mails, text messages, and other calls or messages that ask you to provide sensitive personal information and account numbers. Rather than provide information call the company you do business with directly and verify the validity of the message.
   
• By an employee of a business you deal with. Be careful about who you do business with and only reveal personal information that is absolutely necessary for your transaction.
   
• If your purse or wallet is lost or stolen. Don’t carry your Social Security card, passport, or birth certifi cate in your purse or wallet. Keep them in a safe place at home. Reduce the number of credit cards you carry, and keep an emergency phone list to contact if your cards are lost or stolen.

Our credit card fraud department works around the clock, watching for suspicious card activity. They will contact you immediately if they detect potential fraud on your card, but will never ask you for information. Fraud is serious business, and can hit any time. That is why we at the credit union are always on guard to detect and prevent fraud from happening to you.

Due to the rising number of occurrences of identity theft, the Credit Union National Association adopted a program (required under the FACTA law which became law last year) issuing one free credit report each year by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com. This program is designed to encourage consumers to regularly check their credit report to ensure that the information contained in the report is accurate and also provides an opportunity to the consumer to look for possible signs of identity theft.