3 helpful tips to protect yourself against fraud, scams, and identity theft

America First Credit Union is celebrating National Consumer Protection Week by giving you the best tips on avoiding scams. America First Credit Union is dedicated to the financial well-being of their members and they want to help protect you from fraud, scams, and identity theft. National Consumer Protection week is a time to help people understand their consumer rights and make well-informed decisions about money.

Here are three helpful tips to help you protect yourself against fraud, scams and identity theft:

Privacy

Before submitting your email address or other personal information online, you need to be sure that the privacy of that information will be protected. To protect your identity and prevent an attacker from easily accessing additional information about you, be cautious about providing your birth date, Social Security number, or other personal information online.

Avoiding Scams

Do not give sensitive information to others unless you are sure that they are indeed who they claim to be and that they should have access to the information. Keep your personal information to yourself. Don’t give your personal or financial information in response to a request that you didn’t expect. Legitimate businesses will give you time to make a decision. Anyone who pressures you to pay or give them your personal information is a scammer.

Never pay someone who insists you pay with a gift card or by using a money transfer service. And never deposit a check and send money back to someone. Before you do anything else, tell someone — a friend, a family member, a neighbor — what happened. Talking about it could help you realize it’s a scam.

Preventing Identity Theft

Identity theft, or identity fraud, is a crime that can have substantial financial and emotional consequences. Take precautions with personal information. If you become a victim, act immediately to minimize the damage.

Next week is a good time to review and remind yourself and loved ones of how to protect themselves from fraud, scams, and identity theft. Be sure your children, parents and grandparents have all the information needed to protect themselves.

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