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We believe that education and awareness are important factors in assisting you to protect yourself against fraud.

While Horizon has many existing systems and services in place to protect member’s accounts there are still tips that you can use in your day to day banking to help reduce the risk of fraud.

Be Aware – What to look for

 

Internet Scams

Scams take many different formats and approaches. Often scams are run via emails and may make promises of financial gains like lottery winnings and immediate credit approval.

Other scams may promise you 'easy' money or a job from home. The scammer may ask you to accept payments to your account on behalf of foreign investors, which will earn you a 'commission'. You may then be asked to withdraw the funds and send the cash overseas via an international money transfer company. This is in fact a money laundering scheme and there is a very real possibility of prosecution.

An example of a scam email has been reproduced below:

"In order to become our financial manager for cooperation with private individuals you are NOT OBLIGED TO HAVE ANY HIGHER OR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION. You will just be supposed to:
  • have approximately 2 free hours a day
  • have a bank account (or to be able to open a new one, especially for company needs)
  • have a PC
    • YOUR PARTICIPATION IS ESSENTIAL TO enable us to grant our clients the best service in shortest dates.

    YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES will be:
  • to receive payments for the ordered stocks and bonds from the Swiss Invest clients (private individuals) to your bank account
  • to withdraw the funds and to transfer it further to our brokers in one of the countries where the desired stocks and bonds should be bought"

    • Scams are generally utilised to part their victims from their money so always ensure that you follow our tips for Internet Banking and Online shopping. Remember that you should never trust email solicitation and you can always contact the company directly by phone to verify if the email is genuine.

     

    Phishing emails

    One of the most common means of fraud on the Internet is ‘Phishing’ (pronounced ‘fishing’). This is when you receive seemingly legitimate emails from your Financial Institution requesting that you re-confirm account details and/or your password for the purpose of systems upgrades, account reactivation, security, verification of transfers etc. It may request that you email these details or click on a provided link to take you to the website. These emails may include the use of the financial institution’s logo and name.

    You should never access your financial institution via a link in an email. In some cases the scammers create a ‘ghost’ site that appears to be genuine but actually stores the account details and passwords that you enter. Horizon Credit Union will never request that you email these details to us. As such you should treat these emails and the website links as fake and contact your financial institution immediately. The email should then be permanently deleted as it may also contain viruses.

    An example of what a phishing email looks like is below:

     

    Dear Valued XYZ Bank customer,

    Due to increased fraudulent activity within our site we are undertaking a review of our member accounts. You are requested to visit our site by following the link given below.

    This is required for us to continue to offer you a safe and risk free environment to send and receive money online. Be sure to enter both Customer Account Number & Password otherwise your account will not be verified and access to the account will be blocked.

    Thank you.

    https://xyzbank.com.au

    Copyright 2004 – XYZ Bank ABN 00 123 456 789

     

    Skimming

    This method of fraud essentially steals your card details by swiping your card through a second machine. To prevent skimming occurring on your account you should ensure that you card does not leave your sight when processing a transaction.

     

    Viruses, Trojans & Worms

    Viruses, Trojans, Worms are malicious programs that can be downloaded onto unprotected computers. They can make their way onto a PC via an email attachment, a floppy disk, across a network connection or even just from visiting a web page. In many cases they may just cause inconvenience for example, slowing your system down. However, in more serious instances, they can also cause malicious damage and/or capture credit card numbers, passwords and other personal information and send that data to other locations on the Internet where it may fall into the hands of fraudsters.

    To protect your PC from viruses, trojans or worms you should consider installing security measures on your computer such as anti-virus software and firewalls. To help reduce the risk of your HandyNet password information being captured by a virus we use the Crypto keypad to encrypt your password details and eliminate the need for keystrokes to be used each time you log in to HandyNet. You will also notice that each time you click on a button the Crypto keypad moves slightly, this has been designed to prevent cursor mapping.

     

    Further Information

    For further information on steps that you can take to protect your PC please see the following site:

    http://www.netteller.com.au/Safecomputing/default.asp

     

    Internet Banking/Online shopping

    1. Never divulge your passwords, PIN or account details to an unsolicited request, especially via email.
    2. Keep the Horizon website in a Favorites/Bookmarks folder to reduce possibility of mistakes or deception by scams.
    3. Always log off HandyNet after finishing your transaction and take care that others cannot see you entering your password especially in public and work places.
    4. Never log in to HandyNet via a link in an email.
    5. Check email correspondence for spelling mistakes, errors or bad grammar – this may be an indication that it is not authentic. If unsure check with Horizon before acting.
    6. Regularly change your password and do not use commonly known things like dates of birth, partners/spouses names, street names, nicknames, pet names, phone numbers etc.
    7. Install security measures on your computer such as anti-virus software and firewalls.
    8. Register for Horizon’s Verified by Visa service to make your online shopping more secure.

     

    Visa/MasterCard fraud

    1. Memorise your PIN immediately. Do not write it down or keep it with your card. Do not store it in your phone or computer.
    2. Do not disclose your PIN to anyone. This includes family and friends.
    3. If changing your PIN to one of your own choosing do not use commonly known things like dates of birth, anniversaries, phone numbers etc.
    4. Keep all EFTPOS and Credit card receipts in a safe place or destroy them.
    5. Always ensure that your card is within your sight during any transaction e.g hotels, restaurants etc.
    6. Sign your card as soon as you have received it and never allow anyone else to use it, even if it is on your behalf.
    7. Register your Visa card for Verified by Visa at www.horizon.org.au to make your online shopping more secure.
    8. If your card is lost or stolen notify the Visa/Mastercard hotline on 1800 224 004 immediately.

     

    ATM & EFTPOS

    1. Take care at ATMs and when processing EFTPOS transactions to make sure that you are not being observed by anyone while entering your PIN.
    2. When withdrawing cash be discreet.
    3. When your transaction is complete ensure that you retrieve your card, cash and receipt.

     

     

    Cheque books

    1. Keep your cheque book in a secure place.
    2. Do not ever pre-sign a blank cheque.
    3. Do not give your cheque book to others.
    4. Write your cheques in pen not pencil so that the details cannot be erased.
    5. Cross your cheques with ‘not negotiable’.
    6. If your replacement chequebook is not received within a reasonable time please contact Horizon.
    7. If you cheque book is lost or stolen notify Horizon immediately.