Fraud Awareness Booklet - Servus Credit Union

• For additional security, or in the event that your houseis broken into and you have reason to believe thatconfidential financial information may have beencompromised, consider putting a fraud alert on yourcredit file with the two major credit bureaus listed onthe previous page.• Pay attention to your billing cycles. Follow up withcreditors if your bills don’t arrive on time. A missingcredit card bill could mean an identity thief has takenover your credit card account and changed your billingaddress to cover their tracks.• Guard your mail from theft. Promptly remove your mailfrom the mail box. Notify Canada Post to hold your mailif you’re going to be away for some time and ensurethat your mail is forwarded or re-routed if you move orchange your mailing address.• Protect your computer with a good firewall and anti-virussoftware. Take advantage of technologies that enhancesecurity and privacy when using the Internet, such asusing digital signatures, data encryption, and differentways of making the information anonymous.• Avoid posting personal information on publicly accessiblewebsites and online bulletin boards.• Give your SIN only when it’s absolutely necessary.Don’t include your SIN and other sensitive personalinformation in resumes.• When you register for websites, use strong passwordsand avoid words that are easy to guess. Don’t use thesame password for different sites and don’t store yourpassword on your computer.• Be wary of online offers from websites you don’t knowand trust.• An identity thief will pick through your garbage orrecycling bins. Be sure to shred any document thatcontains your debit card or credit card number,receipts, outdated bills, tax documents, copies of creditapplications, insurance forms, physician statements,credit offers you get in the mail, or any other sensitiveinformation.AWARENESS | DEFEND YOURSELF FROM FRAUD 11