You are probably aware of recent news articles regarding personal security and electronic fraud. You know that the “media” loves to talk about electronic fraud, but people need to understand that they’re more likely to have fraud in some other way than electronically.

Have you recently gone out to dinner or bought something at a retail store? Well of course, everyone has. Then you must realize things that we sometimes take for granted, such as handing over a credit card, or check, for payment. Your information, such as bank routing number, credit card number, address, and so on, are viewed by many people during your transaction. Any of these situations may result in a breach of your personal information right before your eyes.

Education

Public education and awareness are the most effective defenses against Internet fraud and scams. We frequently provide educational articles on our website regarding email scam techniques, such as “phishing”. (See information and articles on VisionLine under Consumer Alert and Computer Center on the right hand navigation area of our homepage, www.visionsfcu.org.)

Phishing is a suspicious email message sent from a thief who is attempting to trick you into giving out your personal information by following a web link that is not legitimate, although it may appear to be.

We all must exercise good judgment when viewing email that appears suspicious or is unsolicited. Do not follow a link to a suspicious or shady website address from an email message. And certainly do not give out your personal information (account number, password, credit card number or social security number) in response to an email that you did not solicit.

As a best practice, no reputable institution would ever ask you to provide your personal information through a web link in an email message. Visions Federal Credit Union follows this best practice. If you are ever suspicious about an email message you receive with “Visions” as the sender, feel free to contact us and make sure it is legitimate.

Visions is constantly looking out for the safety and well-being of our members. Using additional security measures like “Two Factor Authentication” will make email phishing scams much less effective – as long as everyone expresses good judgment and does not follow suspicious email links. For more information on Two Factor Authentication, which Visions will be implementing this year, please read the article under Computer Center on www.visionsfcu.org.

Online Banking

Visions has made some very convenient services available online, such as account access, bill payment, e-statements, e-newsletters, and e-notices that are very safe and secure.

Visions may send you an email message explaining that your e-statement is available or a message containing our e-newsletter, but we will not ask you to confirm your credit card number or other personal information online. We repeat – we will never ask you to disclose your account number or Personal Identification Number (PIN) online.

Our very popular e-notices, inform you that important activity has occurred regarding your account. No email response is necessary, we will simply ask you to log on to your account and review the activity. E-notices always include a confirmation number that was established when you signed-up for e-notices, so you can be 100% confident that it’s a legitimate message.

With Visions online banking you are working in a secure environment with an "encrypted" session, so that only you can see your information. We have dual redundant firewalls that are the best available, and we monitor our network 24/7, including intrusion detection, and do regular vulnerability testing – all for your safety. You can be confident in online banking with Visions!

Summary

We value your trust and we follow the best practices in the financial industry for the safety and security of our online environment. Through our rigorous information security policy and procedures that are regulated by NCUA and approved by the Board of Directors, your account information is secure and confidential. Educating our members is a priority, and helping them make sound decisions on topics such as phishing is one of our goals. Therefore, we would like to recommend the use of Visions Online Banking to reduce your risks:

• Enroll for E-Statements and limit mail fraud.
• Frequently view your cleared checks to monitor check fraud.
• Receive and pay bills online to reduce the chances of mail fraud.
• Sign up for direct deposit to have your funds placed directly in your account(s).
• Review transactions frequently to detect fraudulent activity as soon as it happens.
• Sign up for Visions e-notices to get immediate notification of important account activity.

We would also like to emphasize the importance of keeping your home computer environment safe. Utilizing regular updates to your computer, such as: Windows Updates, virus scanning software, personal firewall, and spyware detection/removal software to name a few. Also remember to be safe by not visiting suspicious websites and downloading files that may make your computer susceptible to a computer virus or worse.

For further information on Internet phishing and the current online security practices of Visions FCU, please contact Tom Hull at Visions FCU at (607) 321-0550.

Tom Hull
Vice President / Chief Information Officer

Greater Binghamton