Albertans avoid becoming
victims of fraud: 4 out of 5 shred instead:
TD Canada Trust challenges Albertans to test their fraud savviness
to mark Fraud Awareness Month in March
TORONTO (February 25, 2010)
– Criminals can forget about rifling through recycling
bins for personal information in Alberta. Four out of five
Albertans shred their confidential documents to protect themselves
from being victims of fraud, 83% of Albertans take this preventive
step, making them the most likely in Canada to do so. Overall, 93%
of Albertans are being proactive about protecting themselves from
fraud, taking steps such as shredding documents and shielding their
Personal Identification Number (PIN) (57%), according to the TD
Canada Trust Fraud Prevention Month Poll.
“It is very encouraging to see so many
Albertans take action to help protect themselves,” says
Andrea Phillips, Vice President, Payments, TD Canada Trust.
“Financial institutions have sophisticated monitoring and
detection tools in place and work closely with law enforcement to
help protect their customers from fraud. Canadians can take further
steps to greatly reduce their risk by becoming aware and taking
precautions to protect themselves.”
The TD Canada Trust Fraud Prevention Month Poll
revealed that other actions taken by Albertans to prevent fraud
include speaking with their bank about reducing their daily
withdrawal limit (10%) and changing their PIN every couple of
months (5%).
Despite taking actions to protect themselves, 88%
of Albertans are still worried about being victim of fraud. Is
there cause for concern? The poll showed that a few Albertans are
engaging in risky behaviour: almost a quarter (24%) of Albertans
have sent their credit card number over email, 12% have told
someone their debit card PIN and 7% have carried their PIN in their
wallet.
“Despite the overwhelming number of
Albertans who are taking preventive action, there is still room for
improvement. TD Canada Trust is committed to educating people to
help replace some risky habits with secure ones,” says
Phillips.
In support of Fraud Prevention Month, TD Canada
Trust developed the following quiz to help Canadians determine how
fraud savvy they are and learn what they can do to help protect
themselves. Andrea Phillips is available for interviews to discuss
the quiz and fraud prevention strategies.
TD CANADA TRUST FRAUD PREVENTION
QUIZ:
- What does a criminal need to make a copy of your card and
access your account?
- The card -- my Personal Identification Number (PIN) is on the
stripe
- My PIN -- they can use a blank card
- The card and my PIN together
- A customer’s PIN is located on the magnetic strip on
their card
- True
- False
- How often should you cover the key pad when you enter your PIN?
- Always
- Sometimes
- Never
- What is Phishing?
- Looking over someone’s shoulder at an ABM to learn
their PIN
- A scam done over the phone or via email to obtain personal and
financial information
- Rifling through the garbage to look for discarded receipts and
statements
- A salesperson asks you for your PIN, saying their new keypad
doesn’t stretch that far and they have to enter it
themselves. You:
- Give them your PIN and debit card
- Decline to give them your PIN but continue your transaction and
move around the counter to enter your PIN yourself
- Leave and contact your financial institution
- How often should you check your banking and credit card
statements for discrepancies?
- Always
- Often
- Never
- You do your banking online, so when you receive your statement
in the mail you should:
- Throw it away without opening it
- Read it and put it in the recycling
- Read it and shred it
- How secure should you be with your debit and credit cards?
- Fairly secure – don’t loan them to
strangers but it’s OK if family and friends borrow
them
- Don’t sweat it. If someone steals them you will be
reimbursed
- Treat them like cash and know where they are at all times
- You go to pay for lunch and your credit card is gone. What
should you do?
- Call your credit card company immediately to report it
lost
- Dine and dash
- Drop by your bank branch a few days later to report it
missing
- What should you do if you receive an email from your financial
institution asking for your banking information?
- Enter the information
- Delete it because your financial institution would never ask
for your banking information via email
- Contact the email sender to find out more
- What should you do with expired identification and credit
cards?
- Throw them away
- Save them because you like the way you look in the photo
- Shred them
- You sell something online to a stranger who sends you a cheque
for too much and asks you to wire the difference. You should:
- Do as they ask because you trust the selling site
- Do as they ask because if the cheque’s no good your
bank will reimburse you
- Cancel the transaction and rip up the cheque
Give yourself 2 points for every right answer: 1.c)
2.b) 3.a) 4.b) 5.c) 6.a) 7.c) 8.c) 9.a) 10.b) 11.c) 12.c)
If you scored 20-24: You run a tight ship
– your information is pretty safe
- You have a place for everything and everything is in its place
so you know almost instantly if something is missing or not right.
Now, while you may not apply this strategy to every aspect of your
life (we know about your junk drawer), you know that your debit and
credit card is safest with you and you know how to keep them from
getting into the wrong hands.
- Not only do you shield your PIN during the transaction but you
take your transaction record and destroy it when you no longer need
it. Remember to do the same with any expired identification or
personal papers you no longer need.
- Credit and debit card fraud are rare, and fraudsters tend to
pick on easy targets, so keep up the good behaviour and you
probably don’t have much to worry about.
If you scored 14-18: You know the basics,
but there is more you can do to protect yourself
- Take extra precautions to protect your personal information.
Maybe you don’t share your PIN with anyone –
but are you sure your PIN is a number that would be hard to guess?
Avoid using your birthday or part of your phone number.
- Since e-mail isn’t always secure, you know better
than to send private information, like your credit card number,
this way – but remember, not all websites are secure
either.
- Make sure you are shopping on a secure website or look for
merchants who use added security features, like Verified by Visa,
before entering your credit card information.
- Also, shred your personal information. There is only one of
you, let’s keep it that way.
If you scored under 14: Be careful
– you’re sharing too much!
- Take the time to protect what is important – your
identity, your money and yourself. Don’t be so carefree
with personal information. Never lend your cards to anyone, or give
anyone your PIN. Even better, memorize your PIN so you
don’t need to write it down. And, never carry your PIN
with your wallet.
- Unless you initiated the call, do not provide your credit card
number over the phone.
- Though email is a convenient way to contact someone, your
financial institution will never ask you to verify your banking
information that way. And remember, that king from a far off land
asking you to share your bank account information is not actually
going to make you rich.
TD CANADA TRUST FRAUD PREVENTION MONTH
POLL
The TD Canada Trust Fraud Prevention Month Poll,
conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion, a division of Vision
Critical, surveyed adult Canadians with debit and credit cards to
gain a better understanding of Canadians’ concerns over
fraud. The total sample size includes 1,059 working Canadians with
polling completed February 9-11, 2010. The total sample yielded 94
people in Alberta.
TD BANK FINANCIAL GROUP
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are
collectively known as TD Bank Financial Group. TD Bank Financial
Group is the sixth largest bank in North America by branches and
serves more than 18 million customers in four key businesses
operating in a number of locations in key financial centres around
the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD
Canada Trust and TD Insurance; Wealth Management, including TD
Waterhouse and an investment in TD Ameritrade; U.S. Personal and
Commercial Banking, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient
Bank; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities. TD Bank
Financial Group also ranks among the world's leading online
financial services firms, with more than 6 million online
customers. TD Bank Financial Group had CDN$557 billion in assets on
October 31, 2009. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol
"TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock
Exchanges.
For further information:
Carolyn Abbass / Karen McCullough
Paradigm Public Relations
416-203-2223
cabbass@paradigmpr.ca /
kmccullough@paradigmpr.ca
Tashlin Hirani
TD Bank Financial Group
416-982-3375
Tashlin.hirani@td.com
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