The are a number of tools that we provide for you to use to protect your account. We also offer several general recommendations and guidelines that may be useful for you to protect yourself from phishing, adware, viruses, and other potential and real dangers.
Account Protection Tools
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Secure Card - You can enroll for free and print your own private security card, which you can keep in your wallet. You will only be able to login if you have this card in your possession. Even if someone gains your password through Phishing, Virus, etc. they cannot access your account.
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Log-in history - You can view the logins to your account. We include the date, time, and the IP address. This helps you ensure that you are the only person accessing your account.
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IP address restriction - You can manage and restrict log-ins by IP address or IP address range. This is a very powerful protection tool to ensure that no one but you can log-in to your account.
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Self Protection Tools and Suggestions
Spyware/Adware - Be careful what links you click-on when browsing. Clicking on questionable links increases the chances of Spyware/Adware being installed on your computer.
If you suspect that you have an Spyware/Adware problem, you can get a free online spyware scan provided by Lavasoft.
Also, you may want to try a different browser, such as Mozilla Firefox. It has many advance features to manage pop-ups, cookies, etc.
Other software is available from Symantec, Sophos, and Kaspersky.
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Phishing - Phishing is email contact that appears to be from a reputable company but is not. The email is cleverly faked and usually asks you to click a link to verify your log-in information. The destination website is also cleverly created to mimic the actual company’s site, when it belongs to a fraudster who is “phishing” for log-in information. If obtained, they will access the account and steal personal identity information, credit card numbers, and/or bank account numbers. Take extreme care with links in unsolicited emails and do not fill in forms in email.
As a counter to phishing, many companies will send you an email and, instead of having a link to click-on, they will give you instructions to go the site yourself and perform them. This is acceptable because you are in control of the URL that you enter into your browser.
If you suspect that you have been phished, stop entering any login or account information on any site until you have ensured that your computer is clear of viruses and spyware (see the links in this section and/or contact a local computer consultant). contact the actual company immediately and let them know. You may want to close affected bank accounts and credit card accounts.
If you suspect that your account with us has been compromised, notify us by PHONE or SUPPORT page ONLY. We will take immediate action to restrict your account until you are confident the issues you have are resolved.
we will not contact you via e-mail for account updates or provide any link to login to your account. We will never send you an attachment in your e-mail. If there is any question, simply delete the e-mail.
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Identity theft - Identity theft can result due to a variety of scams and thefts including phishing scams, removal of mail from your mailbox, and hacking of a website that has your data.
If you suspect that your identity has been stolen, you can monitor your offical credit report for activity that you did not initiate, such as new credit card accounts being created and used. A credit report will not indicate if your bank account is being used, however.
You can get a credit report at any of several agencies, such as Equifax. Note that your EMO activity is NOT reported to any credit agency.
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Website Security - Before you enter sensitive information in any website, look for a padlock in the browser status bar. Also, check the URL to make sure it is exactly the right URL – exact spelling is important. You can also check the SSL certificate.
our company uses Equifax/Geotrust for its SSL certificate, and you can learn how to check your particular browser here.
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Viruses - Install and maintain virus scanning software. Most good anti-virus programs allow automatic updates. Configure and use this feature. There are many good anti-virus programs, such as Symantec, Sophos, Kaspersky.
Online scanning is available at Grisoft(AVG), Symantec, Trendmicro, Panda Software, Kaspersky, and many other companies. It is important to know that not all virus companies have all known viruses, if you feel you have a specific virus, check the list on the site to see if it is known by the company. Most web based virus scans require Internet Explorer, see related attacks.
When you receive an update request from your operating system or anti-virus software, accept it. This will keep your protection level as high as possible. Emails are the single biggest source of viruses. Don’t open emails with oddly spelled subjects or where the addressee is unknown to you. If you do happen to open a suspect email, do NOT open any attachments that may be included.
Also, we strongly recommend that you use Netscape or Mozilla for your browser, as they are much less prone to attack.
If you suspect that your computer has been infected with a virus, you can get a free online virus scan provided courtesy of Trend Micro. If you’d like continuous protection, Trend Micro offers its PC-cillin product. If you do not know or understand what to do, disconnect the computer from the internet and take it to a computer service professional for service.
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Further Information - For more detail, visit these sites:
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