Financial self defense

Beware Of Phishing Scams!

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Scammers never take a break! Just when you think they’ve run out of steam, another *scam surfaces in which fraudsters try to quietly take both your money and information.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned of a recent upsurge in phishing scams involving credit unions. With just a bit of online digging, scammers lure victims into forking over thousands of dollars or divulging confidential information.

Like all phishing scams, the scammer contacts the victim, posing as a legitimate business or service provider that the victim is familiar with. In this case, the scammers claim to be a representative of your credit union.

The fraudsters use social engineering to trap their victims. This means they take advantage of social norms to inspire trust and manipulate people into clicking on their links or answering their emails. It’s almost impulsive for people to download attachments that look like they’re from friends or a familiar business.

The scammers most commonly reach out via email, but they may also use mediums like phone calls, text messages or social media sites. They convince the victims of their legitimacy by providing some personal details about the victim – which they easily pull off the internet.

Victims are lured into providing information with the promise of compensation for a survey or by claiming the victim needs to verify or update an account. Once the scammer has the information, they can empty the victim’s accounts, track their online activity and/or steal their identity.

Alternately, the scammer may lead a victim to click on links that are embedded with spyware. The links lead to a website that may look just like the credit union’s site, but is actually bogus. In such instances, the victim is probably certain they’re browsing their credit union’s website, and won’t hesitate to share information or input usernames and passwords.

The biggest clue that these transactions are scams is their means of communication. Your credit union will never ask for sensitive information through insecure channels. We also won’t ask you to verify your account number – we already have that information!

Despite this red flag, hundreds of people are falling prey to phishing scams. Don’t be the next victim! Here are four tips to help you protect yourself from phishing scams:

1.) Ignore suspicious emails

When online, be on guard. If you receive an email from an unidentifiable source, ignore it. Don’t reply to the email, click on any embedded links or open attachments. If you suspect an email is from a scammer, delete it and add the domain and email address to your spam filter to prevent a recurrence.

Similarly, never “friend” or otherwise accept communications from a stranger via social media. Facebook and Snapchat are for real buddies only!

As a general rule, it’s best not to share any personal information over the internet. If you do need to provide financial information over the web for completing a transaction, only use a secured site. You can verify a site’s security by looking for a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or by finding a URL that begins with “https.” The “s” signifies that this is a secure site. Remember, though, that these indicators are not foolproof in any way. Even a secure site can be hacked.

2.) Alert Destinations Credit Union

The best way to stop scammers in their tracks is to report every attempt they make. If you have reason to believe you’ve been contacted by a scammer impersonating [credit union], let us know! Send us an email with all the details of the scam attempt so we can catch those crooks. It’s best to forward the exact email you received. If you’ve already deleted the email, report the date, time of day and all other details you can recall. The more we have to work with, the easier our hunt will be.

3.) Report all suspicious activity

While we will do all we can to stop these phishing scams, we can use all the help we can get. That’s why it’s important to file your complaint at www.ftc.gov. You can also visit the FTC’s Identity Theft website at www.consumer.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize the fallout of a possible identity theft.

4.) Strengthen your computer’s protection

It’s always a good idea to beef up your computer’s border control. Equipping yourself with sufficient antivirus software will protect it from accepting these emails in the first place. If your software doesn’t update automatically, be sure to update it manually on a frequent basis so it will recognize and reject the most current viruses and scams.

A strong firewall will prevent scams and viruses by making you invisible on the internet and blocking all communication from foreign, unauthorized sources. It’s especially prudent to run a firewall if you use a broadband connection.

If you’re a genuine social media junkie, be sure to make your settings as private as possible. Don’t lay out your life for just anyone to see. Having another few hundred “friends” or “likes” is not worth the risk of a stolen identity!

Finally, as mentioned above, all suspicious email addresses should be added to your email’s blacklist as quickly as possible. Remember: Your spam filter is only as strong as you allow it to be.

With precaution, alertness and the proper steps toward prevention, you can keep yourself safe from phishing scams!

Your Turn: Have you ever reported suspicious emails or other messages? What made you flag it as a scam? Share your experience with us in the comments!

SOURCES:
https://www.navyfederal.org/security/phishing-scams.php 
https://www.mycreditunion.gov/protect/fraud/pages/default.aspx 
https://insightcreditunion.com/tools/fraud_prevention/how_not_to_get_hooked_by_a_phishing_scam.aspx 
https://www.mccoyfcu.org/security-center/fraud-and-scams.html 

How To Keep Your Guard Up Against The Newest Scams

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It seems like there’s a new data leak or identity theft trick to be worried about every week. If you’re not informed, you risk becoming a victim. Sitting back and waiting for news about scams to come to you may not be enough. In an ever-changing security climate, you need to stay on top of new threats in personal information security. 

Why the landscape changes so fast 

The bad news is that humans have become the weak link in the information chain. Breaking modern encryption algorithms takes high-powered supercomputers months, if not years. Information you intended to send online or over the phone being hijacked by nefarious people is a slim chance. The biggest danger is sending information to people you don’t intend to be the recipients.
That’s why scams crop up so quickly. Humans can be tricked in any number of ways. Scammers can appeal to fear, greed or sentimentality in different forms to trick information out of you. They can also rely on inattention to detail or carelessness. This is because humans have a number of built-in vulnerabilities.
Unlike a computer, you can’t just download the latest anti-virus software to your brain. You can, however, do the next best thing: stay current on evolving cybercrime situations. 
Websites to visit regularly 
The FTC regularly updates its website with phone, email and web-based scams. Its website,  https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts, features several articles a week. As one of the strongest consumer watchdog agencies, it investigates illegal or fraudulent business communications with zeal.  It publishes the results of these investigations in hopes that fewer people will be victims in the future.

You can also pitch in and be a good cyber citizen by reporting scams you see to the FTC. You can report it online using the FTC’s form at this website: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.govor call their toll-free number at 1-877-FTC-HELP.   1-877-FTC-HELP It’s one way you can make sure scammers are stopped before they really get started. 

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) also maintains a list of scams from criminals posing as businesses here: http://www.bbb.org/council/news-events/lists/bbb-scam-alerts/.  The BBB is a helpful place to look if you’ve received an offer that seems too good to be true. For identity-theft specific scams, the Identity Theft Resource Center maintains a list of schemes to steal personal information. Their website is located at http://www.idtheftcenter.org/ID-Theft-Blog/Scams-Alerts/. 

Games to play 
Keeping up with the latest threats isn’t all work. There are also fun, interactive games you can play! The FTC’s weight loss challenge game tests your knowledge of common weight loss scams. It can be a fun way to start talking with kids about the dangers of online ads. You’ll find it here: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/media/game-0026-weight-loss-challenge.
If you’re feeling advanced, you can check out Admongo at www.admongo.gov. This creative, sci-fi themed platform introduces the hidden dangers of advertisements. It can also make a great stepping stone into a conversation with kids about caution around advertisements. 
News to follow 
You’re not alone in the effort to protect yourself against fraud. The National Consumer League is a not-for-profit organization with over 100 years of history helping to protect consumers from scammers.It maintains a list of scams and monitors old ones. It also interacts with law enforcement where possible to try to bring scamming groups down.
One of the services the National Consumer League provides is an email list. It sends out alerts whenever a new threat to consumer well-being emerges. In addition to covering scams, it also monitors product recalls, food safety conditions and truth in advertising concerns. It’s a great resource in helping you make smart consumer choices in a market crowded with information. To join the mailing list, just visit their website: www.nclnet.org 
Remember, the computer age brought us wonderful improvements in our quality of life. We can seek entertainment, educate ourselves, and stay in touch with friends and family using a device that fits in your hand. With that greater connectivity comes the need for constant and careful scrutiny of the information that comes across our screens. In this struggle, too, knowing is half the battle.

SOURCES:
http://www.nclnet.org/
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/media/game-0026-weight-loss-challenge

Brought to you by Destinations Credit Union

What Is The Cloud And Is It Safe?

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Why do we use the cloud?

There was a time we used to buy furniture to hold our media.  CD racks, DVD racks, photo albums and filing cabinets filled our living rooms, guest room closets and wherever else we could pile them. Even in our cars, we would install massive CD changers to keep our music flowing or carry enormous books of CDs so we could have our tunes while on the open road.  If you try to explain this to young people today, they’ll look at you like you just described preparing your covered wagon rather than a mid-2000s Honda Civic.  If you try to explain audio cassettes, they might just suspect you have a loose screw or two.
Today’s media and data is so small, it might as well not even exist. Using the Apple Music and Spotify libraries as a guideline, every song that’s ever been recorded and released would fit into flash storage drives the size of a 12-ounce can of Crystal Pepsi. Even as our data gets smaller, we make so much more of it that it can get out of hand – much like processor speed, the amount of information the world produces doubles every two years. Some of that information is pictures of kittens and makeup tutorials, but we also produce a lot of data that isn’t nearly that important.
In such a data-driven world, we trust more and more of our lives to the cloud, and often it seems like blind faith.  After all, what is the cloud? How much do you know about it? Are their laws governing the way people use it? Most importantly, have you taken enough steps to protect yourself when all of your information exists on what is, if we’re really honest about it, not much more than a metaphor for the shared hallucination that is modern life? 
Why should I start to care now? 
This week, iPhone users started noticing problems with Safari.  Initially attributed to an iOS update from earlier this month, it is now suspected to be a server-side problem stemming from Apple’s cloud-based syncing with its Safari web browser.  The issue doesn’t affect security, but it demonstrates a critical problem with cloud-based computing, something all of the major tech companies are pushing us toward. And it’s something where we have little control over our online security.
The cloud itself has insinuated itself in a variety of news stories in the last few years, from the theft of intimate photos belonging to Hollywood stars like Jennifer Lawrence to the operation for ending corruption in FIFA. Cloud storage is behind the surge in Amazon’s stock valuation, because they are the largest provider of cloud storage to businesses, including Netflix, the largest private user of bandwidth on the planet. The cloud is the basis for Google’s push into the laptop business via Chromebooks, and by extension, the efforts of a variety of organizations to get low-cost laptops in the hands of less-privileged kids.  It’s even changed Microsoft Office, probably the most ubiquitous piece of software in the world, by forcing Microsoft to create free versions of its Office suite and charge for excess storage of the files you create.
In other words, your investments, your data and the future of law enforcement may be intimately tied to cloud-based computing, and something as simple as a server-side bug can have an enormous ripple effect for millions of users. The issue won’t be going away any time soon, as more people use the web more often on mobile devices, which will eclipse 50% of personal Internet usage in the next few years. These devices rely on storage in the cloud to compensate for smaller on-device storage capabilities and a lack of long-term storage peripherals. 
What is the cloud? 
The cloud is a series of servers which store data that can be accessed by users whenever it’s needed.  This frees up hard drive space while protecting us from data loss due to hardware failure, including a stolen laptop or dropping your phone into the pasta you’re boiling on the stove. It’s not magical, and your information doesn’t live on the Internet in any particularly novel way. Instead of a home video being stored on your local storage, it is stored on someone else’s storage, far away. These server farms are enormous undertakings, and if you’re into mechanical processes and design, they’re also beautiful and fascinating. For example, check out these pictures of Google’s data centers: http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/
How much of my data is stored on the cloud? 
The amount of your information stored on the cloud varies from person-to-person, but if you’re reading this on a device that plugs into a wall at any point, you’ve got at least some data on the cloud.  If you own an iPhone, your device backs up your photos, videos and music to the cloud, in addition to storing periodic backups of your phone.  If you have a web-based email address, like one from Gmail, Yahoo! or AOL, your emails are backed up there as well.  Depending upon which apps you use, your health details, dating history or even your exact current location could be on the cloud as well, possibly being shared with third parties. 
Wait, who can see what? 
For the time being, the government can probably see more of your data than you think. Exact details are fuzzy, and you can make your own moral judgments on homeland security, domestic spying and Edward Snowden. However, if you think the government doesn’t want access, keep in mind that Apple is currently fighting both California and the United States federal government to keep a form of encryption on your data that it can’t break. Apple no longer wants to surrender data to the government, so it has blinded itself from seeing large swaths of your data. The government is less happy about this, because that data might point to potential threats to homeland security. Again, this article isn’t trying to make a moral or political claim. The point is that the government is a third party who wants the ability to look at your data, which represents another point of vulnerability to a malicious attack.
Outside of the government, a lot of the companies that maintain those expensive server farms pay for all of that technology by sharing some or all of your personal information with private businesses.  You should already know that, of course.  If a web service is free to you, then the company providing it makes its money some other way.  If they’re charging you, they still might make money by selling your data.
You’ll never know, because you accepted the terms without reading them. Don’t feel bad, though, we all do that. The iTunes end user license agreement (EULA) is over 20,000 words long, about four times as long as the Constitution of the United States. There are, however, some resources to help you.  For a shortened and simplified version of various EULAs, try tosdr.org, which is a donations-based organization that explains what you’re agreeing to and offers an add-on for your browser so it’s only a click away. 
Is my data safer when it’s in my control? 
That question is up for debate, but usually the answer is no. In most instances, end users are the most vulnerable point of attack for cyber scammers. However, when you have control of your data, you can work to make it safer. When you don’t, you’re trusting someone else with it. To put it another way, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and other tokenized payment plans are the safest way to make a purchase because they require your thumbprint, protects your data with single-use encryption that’s worthless to a third party, and doesn’t store your info in the cloud.  Doing your best to emulate those services is a good idea. 
So, what do I do to protect myself from the cloud? 
The easiest solution is to spend some time and some money. Find a single site to store your files, whether it’s with Google, Microsoft, Apple, or Dropbox. Read each of their EULAs and decide for yourself. Then pay them to get as much storage as you need, rather than spreading your files among various services in order to stay under the amount for free storage.
Next, go through and make a list of which sites and services have what information of yours. Determine your level of comfort. Delete what you can live without, move the rest to somewhere you feel safe. Clear out your email inbox whenever you can. Don’t archive private data, like medical records or financial statements, with your email provider. Instead, save them locally on storage you have at home or work, which you can disconnect from the Internet. A 2-terabyte solid state removable storage drive is less than $100 and offers you great protection.  As an added measure, back up your drive in a second location once a month, in case something happens to your house.
Finally, as you move forward, try to think critically about what you’re telling people. If someone can make money off your information, they’ll find a way to do so. The only way to protect your information and that of your family’s is by being vigilant. 
Sources: 
https://tosdr.org/  
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/11/e
nd_user_license_agreements_does_it_matter_that_we_don_t_read_the_fine_print.html
http://genius.com/Apple-itunes-terms-of-service-annotated  
http://www.theguardian.com/media/pda/2010/aug/02/infographic-data-cloud
http://www.infostor.com/storage-management/worlds-data-doubling-every-two-years-.html

Lessons Of Powerball

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With the Powerball jackpot eclipsing one billion dollars, an unprecedented lottery fever is sweeping the nation.  Around watercoolers, in person and virtually, the entire country is consumed with conversations about how to spend a hypothetical windfall.  While you didn’t win, it’s been fun to think and fantasize about.  Some observations from listening to our members talk about the jackpot: 

1.) Never take the annuity. 

The average return on the annuity comes out to less than a 2 percent annual yield. Historically, that’s less than inflation, meaning you’re better off stuffing cash in your mattress than taking the annuity. Side note: Do not stuff several hundred million dollars in a mattress; aside from the financial and security concerns, your mattress will be incredibly uncomfortable and scrape the ceiling. 

If you were to put your money into one of our savings products, you would get a much better return. Again, we wouldn’t recommend putting a few hundred million dollars into your savings account and calling it a day, but spreading your money around in a variety of financial products could yield much better results. For example, our money market accounts, savings certificates and similar savings products all offer returns with low risk, much better than leaving your money in an annuity provided by the lottery commission. 

2.)  No one seems to understand what a billion dollars is. 

One billion dollars is not a lot of money. It’s an impossible amount of money. It’s easy to forget that one million dollars is one thousand times larger than one thousand dollars; it’s even easier to forget that one billion dollars is one thousand times larger than one million dollars. In other words, if you currently owe $250,000 on your house, one billion dollars would pay your mortgage, the mortgage of every family in your neighborhood (100 houses at $250,000 is $25 million), the whole neighborhood’s car notes (200 cars at $40,000 is $8 million), put everyone’s kids through college (200 children at $250,000 is $50 million) and still have enough money left to do the same for 10 more neighborhoods just like yours. 

3.)  One billion dollars is so much money, it’s enough to rethink our happiness. 

As long as we’re all having trouble pretending to spend the jackpot, it’s a reminder that joining the one percent doesn’t have to be the goal. If you can’t think of a way to spend one billion dollars, you probably don’t need to make one billion dollars. If you were to hit a jackpot big enough to pay off your debt, fund your retirement and set up a fund to take care of your family for the next century, would that be enough to satisfy you financially? If so, you could probably do so for a fraction of the Powerball jackpot. Each individual’s experience will vary, but for most of our members, a few million would be enough to hit all of those goals. 

So what would you do with the rest of the money? Who cares? Everything after that point would be fun, but meaningless. We’d all love to own an NBA team, but most of us would be almost as happy with season tickets. A lot of us would rather watch the game at home, anyway. Would you really like to drive a nicer car? That’s great, but how much time would you spend in your Bentley if you weren’t commuting to work every day? 

The other side of the coin is true, too. The horror stories about lottery winners who ended up alone, broke, and miserable have given a lot of people reason to pause. It seems like every conversation about the Powerball jackpot has to bring up the curse of the lottery. Whenever that happens, people talk about putting aside enough to make sure they’re happy, but instead it seems like having so much money is what causes the curse. With one billion dollars, you could give away 99 percent of your winnings and still have enough money for everything in the last paragraph, so why not just give it all away at the outset? Then, no one is coming around with their hands out, you never have to wonder if people are after your money, and you’ll still be set up well forever. 

4.)  Figure out your retirement number. 

One of the most interesting things underlying these conversations is that people don’t seem to know how much they’d need for the rest of their lives. While it’s not likely to ever come up because of lottery winnings, knowing how much money you need to live on for the rest of your life is important. It lets you plan your savings, investments and schedule your retirement.  If you don’t know your number, it’s time to make serious plans.  Stop waiting on a lottery windfall. We’ll help you come up with a reasonable, achievable plan so you’ll eventually be able to retire.  It might not be a retirement in the Bahamas, but even on your salary, you should be able to retire someday.

Pay For Delete Scams

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You may already be checking your credit report regularly and you might have developed the habit of challenging or reporting any suspicious activity. But what do you do with a stubborn charge that won’t go away? You know you shouldn’t have to pay it, but for whatever reason, you can’t get it off your report.  You call the creditors in question and they tell you they understand, it’s no big deal and they’ll gladly delete it from your credit report if you pay a small fraction of the charge.  What do you do in that scenario?

For a lot of people, paying a couple hundred dollars is better than the headache or the full amount of the charge. They don’t have to worry about the charge, and they know that over time they’ll more than make up that money in savings on credit card interest charges.  It’s all part of the cost of doing business, they think, so they cut a relatively small check.

For the rest of us, we don’t want injustice to stand.  Or maybe we can think of a better way to spend a few hundred dollars than paying a scammer.  We could put it toward retirement, our kids’ college funds, or buy ourselves a new dress for stepping out on the town. The point is that spending a few hundred dollars on a personal luxury, no matter how frivolous, is still a better idea than spending it on a scam.

Legitimate credit agencies don’t engage in pay for delete schemes. The way it’s supposed to work is that if a debt is reported as being sent to collection, it stays on your credit report for seven years, with certain exceptions, including some medical bills. Often, big credit agencies will sell the debt to smaller ones for less than what is owed, so they can receive guaranteed income, then the smaller agencies are looking to get some amount paid off, generally more than they paid for the debt.

Those smaller agencies are often less scrupulous, and they offer to report the whole debt as a mistake if you pay a certain amount. Sometimes, that amount is the debt in full, which nets them a tidy profit. Other times, it’s a smaller amount.  In theory, this could have a very positive effect on your credit.

However, there’s no guarantee they’ll follow through, nor a reason for them to put the offer in writing, because the process isn’t above board. In addition, if a creditor creates a charge that shouldn’t be there, they’ll often ask for pay-for-delete so they can mark it as removed, making it harder to identify a fraudulent charge after the fact.

Arm yourself with knowledge. Here are three scenarios in which a charge can be removed from your credit report:

  1. You never got the bill (or the bill was for an incorrect amount)– This is pretty obvious, and you shouldn’t have to pay a dime.  Make sure to challenge suspicious charges. If you don’t believe that you incurred a debt, let the collection agencies know. Ask to see evidence of the bill; sometimes the creditor can’t produce it, and they will waive the charge. Make sure to follow up afterward to confirm that the charge was removed.
  2. The bill was for a medical debt – As mentioned earlier, some forms of medical debt can be removed from your record. Double check this with your accountant or lawyer. Make sure you also check with your insurance company so you know they paid as much as they were obligated. Ask the medical provider for a detailed, itemized bill, then ask your insurance company for your explanation of benefits (EOB). At a minimum, show the EOB to your medical provider to make sure they’re billing correctly. Every case is different, so be detail-oriented, write down everything the provider and insurer tell you, and seek help from a professional. A single medical bill can be worth 25 points on your FICO score, so it pays to follow through. Remember, a creditor is not a medical provider, so they will have much less freedom to rework old bills, which is why they may be more interested in pay-for-delete. 
  3. It’s a small-time creditor – This is where the line between good security and under-the-table scam starts to blur. Small-time creditors want the revenue and they’re going to be more likely to offer shady practices in exchange for money. Make sure to get everything you can in writing, and be suspicious. If they’re unscrupulous enough to try pay-for-delete, then they probably didn’t do all of their due diligence to find out if you paid the bill. Ask for evidence. Make sure you really owe the money. Be persistent; this is real money that you can spend in better ways than on scams.

It’s important to stay on top of your credit report, but don’t let that number at the top dictate your life. Yes, you’d like it as high as possible, but that’s not a reason to give money to scammers.  If you do the work on your end, you can often get to the bottom of these charges, save your credit score, and keep cash in your pocket.


Sources:
https://www.credit.com/credit-reports/the-truth-about-credit-repair/ 
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/pay-for-delete-shady-credit-report-cleanup-1264.php 

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/debt/pay-for-delete.shtml

Rogue Access Points

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We’ve all been there.  It’s been a long day of shopping at the mall, or waiting in an airport, or driving across the country, and we finally get a chance to pull out our phones or laptops and look for WiFi. Good news: You’ve found one that doesn’t require a password!  Free WiFi saves the day. You click accept and head to your favorite place to watch videos of kittens, or whatever people normally do on the Internet … we mostly watch kittens.

There’s just one problem: what if that free WiFi was a trap?  One of the cleverest phishing scams out there right now is built on the lure of free WiFi using rogue access points, and it has enough variations to stay ahead of the security teams at Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and our own security for one simple reason: The soft spot in your security is you. 

Here’s how phishing on rogue access points works:  The scammer will set up a wireless router offering free Internet, often marked “Free WiFi,” “ATT WiFi,” or “Starbucks.”  Would you be suspicious of those networks?  Many people just look for the strongest “free” network, while most of the rest of us look for a name we trust.  How paranoid do you have to be to not connect to Starbucks WiFi at the mall?  Once you connect, though, they have a variety of ways to get any information they want off your phone or laptop. 

Even scarier, some scammers are using programs that tell your phone that the name of the free wireless available from the scammer’s router is whatever name your phone is looking for, so it can even connect automatically while in your pocket.  You can get phished over your phone just by walking in the wrong area. 

Once you’re on their network, they have a variety of ways to steal your info, from just grabbing your session cookies to using keystroke monitors to get logins and passwords, to the traditional phishing technique of creating dummy sites that look like Facebook or major credit card websites to prompt you for your info. 

Here’s what you can do to stay safe: 

  1. Turn off your WiFi unless you’re at home or work.  I know, I know. The only thing worse than mobile network data speed is mobile data network pricing.  Well, maybe mobile network customer service. Unfortunately, all that WiFi you grab every day can be dangerous.  Even if you’re not running into rogue access points, you’ve still got to hope that the coffee shop or burger joint actually pays attention to the security of their wireless router, which few even think to do.  Even those businesses that do think about security rarely spend money on it – rarely are they bringing in a professional. No, they’re asking a minimum wage employee to “take care of it” because “you’re young and good at computers.”  On a related note, isn’t it odd that coffee shops don’t spend more time thinking about their WiFi?  Isn’t that a core business at this point? 
  2. Even then, make sure your home and work WiFi are safe. Endpoint security, like Norton antivirus, is not as effective as it once was, simply because there are so many more points of vulnerability than there were a few years back.  We’ll have an extended look at securing your WiFi network in a future installment, but for today, set up your password with WPA2 Enterprise encryption.  If your router does not support it, it’s time for a new router. 
  3. Rename your home network something like “This Public WiFi is UNSAFE.”  It might sound weird, but if a scammer tries to use software to tell your phone the name of his network is the same as your home network, your phone will tell you it’s connected to “This Public WiFi is UNSAFE” and you can get off of it. 
  4. Apps are your friend.  Most apps, including ours, use HTTPs security, rather than HTTP. This can actually stop some of the tactics many scammers use.  Remember, they don’t want to beat the best security; they want to do as little work as possible and beat those unwary souls who rely on the worst security.  A simple step up is enough to keep many scammers at bay. 
  5. Get an app that prevents rogue access.  Depending on your operating system (OS), you have different options, but search your app store.  It’s worth the trouble and $4.99. 

Sources:

http://www.wikihow.com/Secure-Your-Wireless-Home-Network      

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3v98uz/what_are_the_best_computer_hackers_able_to_do/ 

http://networkengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/123/how-do-you-prevent-rogue-wireless-access-points-on-a-network 
http://www.inc.com/security/articles/200801/accesspoints.html 

Dealer Auto Finance Scams

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So, you’re buying a car.  You’ve made it past the tedious comparison shopping, you’ve finished the  detail-oriented research and you’ve even endured the haggling with the salesperson.  Your tongue probably tastes like that terrible coffee they use in every car dealership in America, the kids are probably getting cranky and it’s pretty likely you’re thinking about everything else you could have done with your weekend.  But, it’s almost over.


“I just gotta go in to see the finance manager, sign some papers, and we’re on our way home.”  That feeling of relief washes over you, you let your guard down, and you don’t even realize until too late that you’re suddenly in a much higher monthly loan payment or longer term than you’d planned for.  What, in the name of Lee Iacocca, just happened?

The stereotype of car dealerships usually involves a salesman with a pencil moustache and a polyester jacket who lies through his nicotine-yellowed teeth about undercoating or telling you how the used car you were looking at has only ever been driven to church on Sundays.  That guy is easy to spot.  If the salesperson lies to you, you have some legal protections.  If you Google before you go, you’ll even know most of the tricks the salesperson might roll out. What you’re less protected against are the tricks that happen in the finance office. Below, we’ll talk about what to look for and how to avoid dealer finance scams so you don’t spend too much on your next car.  

1.)  Keep your wits about you.  Never let your guard down at the dealership.  Every person there wants to make money off of you and they’re very competitive.  Even if he or she says that they don’t want or receive commission on your particular sale (“I just need to hit my quota” or “One more sale puts me at my bonus, I’ll take a loss on this one”), that person is almost certainly a very competitive person who’s going to be comparing notes with his or her coworkers this afternoon.  

The finance office is designed to put you at ease, so you’ll lower your guard. The finance office is probably in a different part of the building, with different lighting and ambience.  The offices may be appreciably nicer, with actual walls instead of cubicles, some of which may have art hanging on them.  Clearly, the person you’re talking to is important, having been in such a nice office for so long.  

And that’s what should scare you.  The people in the finance office are often not financial experts by trade; after all they don’t need to do your taxes or invest your money.  They only have to understand one transaction.  Therefore, many dealerships will send their best salespeople to finance classes so they can have a smooth closer at the end of each transaction.  Don’t let the gray hair fool you; the person in front of you is just as competitive and sharp as the one on the sales floor.  After all, to get this office, the finance officer had to be really fantastic at making sales.

2.)  Know your credit score.  There are a lot of reasons to know your credit score before you make a large purchase, including the fact that you should check your credit report for irregularities fairly often, whether or not you’re buying anything.  When you buy a car, it’s especially important.  Finance managers like to use customer ignorance against them, and if you don’t know your up-to-date credit history, then they’ll smell blood in the water.

While the most obvious example is to try to charge you more than you need to pay, you might not expect that another classic is to offer you a loan at a far lower rate than you deserve.  The idea is to offer you a rate so low you can’t say no, then wait a few weeks before telling you that the financing unexpectedly fell through.  Don’t worry, he or she will tell you, you can keep the car.  There’s a clause in your contract that says “subject to financing,” so he or she found a different lender. The good news turns sour, however, because your new rate is through the roof and you’ve already signed the contract and taken delivery of the vehicle.

Don’t take a loan at a rate that’s too good to be true.  If you’re tempted by an offer in the finance office, ask how long it’ll be valid. Then, take it home and show it to your lawyer, so someone you trust can tell you if it’s on the up-and-up.  If you don’t want to pay your attorney’s rate, you can also bring it to us.  We’ll take a look, let you know about any potential pitfalls, and we might even be able to beat that rate or provide a better term, saving you even more money. Remember, if they say that the deal expires today (particularly on the weekend) or that you can’t take your contract with you, it’s almost certainly because they don’t want you to take the time to think about what you’re doing.

It’s never a good idea to trust someone who doesn’t want you to think. Get your credit score for free once a year from annualcreditreport.com.


3.)  Walk in with an offer.  Then, walk out with an offer.  The best way to get a fantastic rate on a loan for a new or used car is to finance through Destinations Credit Union.  We aren’t looking to make a profit, we’re looking to support our members.  We’re also trustworthy – it’s why you’re here in the first place, after all – so you know our great rates aren’t scams.  So, come see us first and you can walk into the dealership with your loan financing already approved (or apply online and note that it is a preapproval).  You’ll know how much you can spend, taking the pain out of negotiating. You’ll also know what interest rate you’ll get and have a pretty good assurance that your monthly payment will be manageable.  Plus, you’ll only need to run your credit score once, so you don’t have to worry about losing points from looking it up too often.  

Don’t let the salesperson know that you’ve already gotten financing, though. The dealership knows how much it wants to make on the transaction, and it doesn’t care if that money comes out of the trade-in, the sale, or the financing. If you know how much your trade-in is worth and you have your financing taken care of, then the only place they can make money is on the sales price.  If they know that, they’ll be less flexible on the sales price.  Let them think that if they give in a little on the sales price, they’ll be able to make it up in financing.  

But you also need to be able to walk away.  Just like any other part of the sale, whomever can walk away controls the deal.  If the terms of the loan the dealer offers you sound great, thank them and take them with you and let’s compare notes.  We’re here for you and we promise to burn the midnight oil figuring out what we can do to make the best deal you can get.  

This might all seem a little excessive.  Maybe you’re good at negotiating, you’ve looked up all the dealer scams and dirty tricks, and you can get the loan really close to what you want.  You’re only off by $50 or so, and if you just sign the papers you can take the car home tonight and be done with the whole process.  

Remember, $50 may not sound like much, but over a 60-month loan, that’s $3,000 plus interest.  Who would you rather see pocket that $3,000:  the dealership or your family?  To put it another way:  if your child racked up $50 in extra data charges on your phone bill, how would you feel?  What if he or she did it every month for five years? Let’s beat the finance office together.

Securing Your Phone

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If you spent time on Twitter, CNN, or just about any other corner of the Internet, you might believe that they only thing that happened anywhere in the universe last week was Apple’s product announcement on Wednesday. Joined by developers from Adobe and Microsoft, the company showed off a new iPad, new iPhone, and a pencil. That’s right, a pencil.

In all the excitement of a new $70 pencil, it was easy to miss Apple’s discussion of iOS 9, which is to be released September 16. For some, however, that date was surprising, because their phones had been asking them to upgrade to iOS 9 for days. Unfortunately, that update was not from Apple. It was from scammers, hoping to gain access to people’s mobile phones, where we keep all of our secrets. The effects of the attempted scam appear to be minimal so far, but it’s a great reminder to brush up on our mobile security. Here are some quick steps you can take to protect yourself on your phone:
 
1). Always update your software. It can be annoying to find a time to plug in your phone when you’re on Wi-Fi, and sometimes you don’t want to put your phone down for an hour or more while it downloads the most recent operating system. For smaller apps, it can feel like you’re dealing with a new update every other week. What’s the deal? Those apps never seem to add anything useful. 

The reason you get so many little updates is that the apps from major developers are constantly getting security updates. Google and Microsoft update every two weeks, usually with minor bug fixes and security updates, but they’ll update more frequently if security risks dictate it.  It might be annoying sometimes, but the frequency of those updates is the best security you have for the software you use on your phone everyday. 

The biggest security issues are covered by operating system updates. Apple is notoriously slow on OS updates, just like they are with many of their apps, which only serves to make their updates even more important.  When iOS 9 comes out on the 16th, it will be their third major update of the year, which is far more frequent than usual.  If you’re currently running anything before iOS 8.4.1, your security is out of date, and only going to be more antiquated next week.  Take the time to update–it’s worth it. 

2). Think about the Wi-Fi you connect to.  If you’re still on a restrictive data plan – and with the price of mobile data being what it is, no one would blame you – you understand the relief that finding the open Wi-Fi connection of a fast-food restaurant or coffee shop can provide.  But that relief might be misguided.  After all, that barista – the one with the tattoos, piercings, and boho sense of cool – isn’t an IT specialist.  It’s unlikely they get paid much more than minimum wage plus tips, and that kind of salary doesn’t attract tech-savvy security experts.  When was the last time the router was replaced? When did they last update the firmware or check the network for viruses?  You’re about to connect your phone, which may be the most expensive object on your person, the object you use the most often, and the most irreplaceable tether to your family and friends to a network whose security is at best questionable and at worst far from safe. If all you were planning to do was check social media or the box score of last night’s game, you might want to just stay on your LTE or 4G network.  If you were going to do anything more private, whether it’s email, banking, or shopping, you definitely want to consider whether that coffee shop wi-fi is a good idea. 

3).  Reconsider what you do on your phone.  If you had a time machine and could show your smart phone to a younger you from the 1990s, the younger you would be stunned.  If you were into grunge music, you might use Spotify or Apple Music to explain that you now carry every song ever recorded in your pocket at all times.  If you spent the 1990s rollerblading, you might pull up MyFitnessPal or Nike+ to show how you can track your heart rate, calories burned, and steps taken every day.  If you spent the 1990s in an office, you might pull out Excel or PowerPoint to explain that, well, basically it’s the same thing, but on a smaller screen.  The next thing that would happen, though, is that they younger you would ask what else you use it for everyday.  You’d explain messaging and email, but when you explained mobile banking how would you react? 

If you told your younger self that you had a personal computer in your pocket at all times, and that you put your most private secrets in it – from medical information to intimate conversations with your romantic partner to your financial data – which you then sent out into the world through an invisible network (which you don’t understand), which then ran your secrets through servers (in a location that you don’t know), before traveling through another hard-wired network (that you can’t explain) to your financial institution or investment firm, where the information immediately reversed course and came back to you over the same mysterious connections…If you told that to your younger self would they be impressed?  Or would they smash the phone on the ground and slap you in the face for your stupidity?  How can you trust your secrets that way?  Why are you putting all of that information in one place? 

If you want to protect your information online, you need to use the kinds of software that are built with security protocols and frequent updates.  With Destinations Credit Union Mobile Banking, we have found the best software security providers in the business and built layer after layer to protect your information.  We’re not interested in disappointing the 90’s version of you, who still believes that there’s a difference between public life and private life.  We want your information safe and secure. 

Our app also lets you deposit checks with your camera, make transfers, track your spending, report fraudulent activity, or do virtually anything else you could do in our brick and mortar locations.  Most importantly, it’s still us on the other end – a neighborhood credit union that puts service for members ahead of profits, so you know we’re not going to cut corners on security.

Destinations Credit Union is also in the process of a major upgrade to our mobile app which will include many more features, including bill payment! 

Sources:

http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/9/9245073/apple-ios-9-download-release-date-iphone-upgrade 
http://www.ibtimes.co.in/ios-9-beta-3-release-hoax-twitter-user-stages-act-catch-fake-apple-employee-638572 
http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2015/01/13/10-ways-to-keep-your-phone-safe


Your Greatest Strength Might Be Your Greatest Weakness

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We’ve all had that moment when we were shopping on eBay at 3 a.m. and spotted the deal of the century -an Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch for just $100? That’s the watch that’s been on the moon! Then we realize the price is too good to be true when we see that our newest find will ship from the other side of the planet and the listing features mysteriously blurry photos that obscure key details. Maybe that Moonwatch spelled Saturday with a “B,” because some scams are really easy to spot.  We’ve all seen the scam and after catching ourselves, we’ve all asked ourselves the same question:  Who falls for this garbage?

From behind a computer screen, spotting a scam is as easy as a stroll in the park on a beautiful Saturbay afternoon.  What investigators have realized is that it gets much tougher when fraud happens in person.  In person, all of those skills we’ve developed online go away and we become easy marks.  

The IRL problem

It’s easy to act differently online.  No one knows us there, so we can make up the life we want to live or act without repercussions. Otherwise calm and decent people can become maniacs online if certain topics come up – from vaccinations to the recent play of the local professional quarterback.  For others, the digital world is a place of exploration and indulgence in hobbies that are unavailable offline, as players of World of Warcraft or the thousands of people who left reviews on Food.com’s recipe for ice cubes can attest.  However we change behind the computer, it’s easy to see that we think of ourselves and others differently while online.  Offline, you wouldn’t constantly harass your friends about a farming game, would you?

The same is true when it comes to scams.  When we sympathize with people, we lose the critical distance we need to spot scammers.  If we can connect with a person, we are far more likely to fall for a scam, and talking to them away from the computer increases that personal connection.  

Think about it this way:  The FTC says the most common forms of scams all involve human interaction, not computers.  The most common form of online identity theft isn’t breaking into your credit union — we’re really good at security — it’s phishing, where scammers convince victims to willingly give up their credit card information.  The most common phone scam is the grandparent scam, in which the bad guys use our natural concern for our family to get money out of us. The most common scam ever might be the basis for the modern home improvement scam: using a hard-luck story or the victim’s greed to convince them to pay up front, then never actually do the work.

How to avoid in-person scams

1.) Be wary of surprises and secrets.  Two things that should tip you off right away are really big surprises and really private secrets.  If you won money in a contest you don’t remember entering, you probably didn’t enter it.  If you’re getting a big payday, but you can’t tell anyone about it, you’re probably not getting a big payday at all.  If a company runs a contest, they want to get publicity. If you’ve got contest winnings coming, that company probably made you put down your email address and a bunch more info.  It probably took a while for them to get all of your data.  You’d remember.  Even in old TV shows they understood that surprises and secrets were a bad sign – if a 1960s sitcom hero inherits a mansion from an uncle they’ve never met, you better believe it’s going to be haunted.

2.) Take your time.  If someone needs you to act quickly, that’s often a clear sign of a scam, particularly if the sudden rush is coupled with a surprise as described above.  Scammers understand the power of groupthink – which is what psychologists call that trend among humans to make worse decisions in groups than by themselves – largely stems from an impending time deadline. By denying you time to catch your breath, scammers are trying to rush you into a bad decision and keep you from getting advice from someone with distance and perspective.

3.)  Try to be a robot.  NPR’s “Planet Money” podcast aired an episode covering the danger of our humanity very well.  In it, a banker named Toby convinced dozens of people to help him perpetrate a large-scale fraud simply by telling them his hard-luck story.  He claims that not one of them turned him down.  The case made in the episode is that for each person who heard the story, the ethical decision to commit a fraud and the rational decision to trust a scammer was completely overwhelmed by our sense of sympathy and injustice. Don’t let that be you.  

Hopefully, you’re not going to have to deal with in-person scammers very often. If you do, be sure to contact the FTC here: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1 and the FBI here: http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx 

If you think you may have been the victim of a scam, identity theft, phishing, or any other security threat, let us know immediately.  The sooner we know, the safer your accounts at the credit union.  You can email us at info@destinationscu.org or call us at 410-663-0859.

Sources:
http://www.food.com/recipe/ice-cubes-420398 
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/protection-for-the-consumer/scams/spotting-and-reporting-scams/how-to-spot-a-scam/ 
https://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud 
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnOneCondition 

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/04/17/150815268/why-people-do-bad-things

The Best RFID-Blocking Wallets For Women

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We recently brought you information about the best RFID-blocking wallets for men. Today, we have a review of the best RFID-blocking wallets for women, who have far more options in terms of styles, looks, and formality. If you’d like to read the previous installment, click here http://blog.destinationscu.org/2015/08/the-best-rfid-blocking-wallets-for-men.html.  In it, you can learn about what RFID is and why you need a wallet that blocks the signals from your cards.


Here are our top choices for four very different kinds of card-protecting options:

Women’s Trifold Wallet

by Access Denied ($55.95-$66.95)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I0EI5DC/ref=s9_hps_bw_g193_ir14?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-9&pf_rd_r=00V8ZFC3J61Y0K0DD90X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1925055922&pf_rd_i=7218758011

Our first option is one of the most basic wallets offered to women that is also capable of holding everything while still looking fashionable. The Access Denied trifold wallet has space for your cash, cards, passport and checkbook, so you know that this wallet can handle whatever you need for your day. It’s also available in a variety of neutral tones and common purse colors to coordinate with your everyday bag. It’s hard to find this much convenience and variety under $60.


That said, if you’re a fan of high-quality leather, you might be put off by the lack of full or top-grain leather with this wallet. If that’s something that upsets you, be warned that this guide is very light on such top-flight materials, because the wallet manufacturers don’t seem to use them very often for RFID wallets. If you want to step into high-quality leather goods that keep your identity safe, you’re going to be paying a lot of money.

RFID-Blocking Secure Ladies Mini-Trifold

By ID Stronghold ($49.99)

http://www.idstronghold.com/RFID-Wallet-Ladies-IDSH7105.asp 


Identity Stronghold has an inexpensive wallet that should fit into any purse.  If you want the convenience and storage options of a much bigger wallet, the Identity Stronghold Mini-Trifold has a zippered coin pouch, credit and ID card slots and a pocket for your cash.  The faux-reptile leather finish is a stylish touch that Jane Birkin would appreciate because, unlike the Hermes Bag named for her, no alligators were harmed in making it.  


The wallet comes in a few different faux-reptile finishes, ranging in color tone from muted purple to the bright red pictured here.  It’s deceptively stylish for the price.
 

RFID-Blocking Cross Body Bag (Left)

by Travelsmith ($99.00)

http://www.travelsmith.com/travelsmith-rfid-blocking-crossbody-purse/travel-accessories/security-bags-belts-wallets/rfid/778503?defattrib=&defattribvalue=&listIndex=4

RFID-Blocking Double Frame Clutch (Right)

by Travelsmith ($68.99)

http://www.travelsmith.com/travelsmith-rfid-blocking-double-frame-clutch/sale-clearance/clearance/new-to-clearance/travel-gear/800288?isCrossSell=true&strategy=76

Another option is to find a small bag that you like and use it for carrying your wallet. Both of these options from luggage maker Travelsmith offer full RFID protection for everything within the bags, including credit cards, IDs and passports. Like the Access Denied trifold wallet above, these bags are available in a variety of colors to suit just about any taste.


If you find the idea of moving away from a beloved bag or purse unappealing, the chain straps can be removed from either of the Travelsmiths and the bags can be used as wallets. Each bag comes with some organizational features, but if you want everything to have a place, you may find the lack of dedicated pockets frustrating.

Fine Art RFID-Blocking Card Sleeves

by Armored Wallet ($9.50)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I9K68AY/ref=asc_df_B00I9K68AY3835448/?creative=394997&creativeASIN=B00I9K68AY&linkCode=df0&tag=wwwshopstylec-20&ascsubtag=1586119148 


Finally, we have the option for anyone who would like to keep their current wallet or purse, regardless of style preference or gender. These inexpensive sleeves wrap around your cards individually to protect them from skimmers and look great while doing it. Armored Wallet offers a variety of colors and prints featuring classic works of art. There’s something to be said for the unique touch of carrying classic art in your wallet, and even more to be said for protecting yourself while getting change back from a $10 bill.


The masterpieces featured on the sleeves come mostly from European impressionists like Van Gogh and Monet, and don’t extend much past the paintings you might have had as a dorm poster in your college days. So, if you were hoping for Klimt or Kandinsky, you’re out of luck.


In the end, your choice will be dictated by your personal style. If you’re an upscale fashionista, you may be disappointed with the season’s offerings; among Saks 5th Avenue, Nordstrom, Barney’s New York, and Coach, not a single RFID-blocking women’s wallet can be found. If you prefer simplicity, you might want to check out the men’s wallets, most of which claim to be unisex. If, however, you’d rather save money and protect yourself from identity theft than look good on the runway, you have your choice of a vast number of styles and colors. Whichever you choose, make sure you find a way to protect your cards, even if that means wrapping them in tinfoil until you can find a suitable and fashionable alternative.

Sources: 
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dont-let-them-scan-you-blocking-rfid-chips/   
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/back-pain-cure-it-by-cleaning-out-your-wallet/

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/29/luxury/jane-birkin-hermes-bag/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I0EI5DC/ref=s9_hps_bw_g193_ir14?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-9&pf_rd_r=00V8ZFC3J61Y0K0DD90X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1925055922&pf_rd_i=7218758011

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I9K68AY/ref=asc_df_B00I9K68AY3835448/?creative=394997&creativeASIN=B00I9K68AY&linkCode=df0&tag=wwwshopstylec-20&ascsubtag=1586119148

http://www.travelsmith.com/travelsmith-rfid-blocking-double-frame-clutch/sale-clearance/clearance/new-to-clearance/travel-gear/800288?isCrossSell=true&strategy=76

http://www.travelsmith.com/travelsmith-rfid-blocking-crossbody-purse/travel-accessories/security-bags-belts-wallets/rfid/778503?defattrib=&defattribvalue=&listIndex=4

http://www.idstronghold.com/RFID-Wallet-Ladies-IDSH7105.asp