continued from page 6
Secondly, all individuals can
and should take steps to
increase their own privacy
protection. Specifically, use of
the search engines Google,
Yahoo and Bing should be
avoided due to the tracking
each does on the sites visited.
DuckDuckGo is a replacement
search engine that does not
track or market information
about users. Digital privacy can
also be increased by utilizing
encryption programs such as
Pretty Good Privacy, Blur or
Privacy Badger.
There is usually a minimal cost
for encrypting but it can and
should be considered money
well spent. Finally, dropping
the internet and cell phone
apps for in-person and snail
mail contact should be given
serious consideration. More
information about digital
privacy is offered by the
Electronic Frontier
Foundation’s Surveillance
website: https://ssci.eff.org
and https://prism-breaking.
money orders; and basic
“know your customer”
information empowers
employees and their employer
in frontline fraud prevention.
Multiple local, state and
federal agencies have online
information that can easily be
obtained and used to provide
detailed educational materials
for businesses, employees and
Additionally, providing
customers. These are some of
customers with information—
the best resources to protect
whether through live seminars against fraud and financial
or enclosures on statements—
crimes. Every state attorney
not only enhances the
general has a “hot line” for
customer/business relationship reporting suspicious activity
Likewise, businesses, such as
but provides an additional
and most county or district
banks or credit unions, that
firewall against losses for both. attorneys also have fraud,
have a direct financial
financial crime or white collar
responsibility to their
Examples of fraud prevention
crime units, as do city
employees, customers and
information that can be shared police departments.
clients, should give serious
with customers include
consideration to providing
potential losses due to fake
These local resources can also
preventive education to each
Quit Claim Deeds; unpaid
provide information on current
of these groups.
property tax scams;
area or regional scams, fraud
overpayment for online items
and financial crimes. In
Employee training and tools
sold; free lunches/dinners to
addition, the FDIC and the
are vital to the development of
learn how to improve
OCC have alerts on the
consistent and updated loss
investment returns; lottery
internet. A partial list of such
prevention. Installation of black prizes; offers to liquidate Time
resources is included at the end
lights; strict wire transfer
Shares; and the importance of
of this article.
confirmation procedures;
not answering any telephone
knowledge of how to detect
calls from unknown numbers.
Another area of concern is
counterfeit drivers’ licenses,
fraud related to ATM and credit
checks, debit/credit cards and
cards. In the United States, this
Continued on page 8
October 2015
7
The Credit Professional