Tips for financial security

Protecting yourself against the latest scams

Crooks are using the latest technology to pull off their scams. Here are some tips for protecting yourself from various swindles:

Phishing scams

"Phishers" are identity thieves who send unsolicited e-mails, with authentic-looking logos and graphics that ask for your financial information. Some e-mails direct you to fake websites that look like a legitimate organization's site, but are not. The bogus site tries to trick you into divulging your personal information so the crooks can steal your identity and run up bills or commit crimes in your name.

• Change your online banking and shopping account passwords every three to six months.
• Retype web addresses in your browser rather than clicking on e-mail hyperlinks. This ensures that the site you're going to is real, not a fake.

Check scams

The most common check scam is the "Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud." You receive a letter or e-mail explaining that you'll be sent a check for an extra sum and you'll need to wire back the excess money. The realistic-looking checks are counterfeits, and you, the victim, are responsible for money withdrawn against the bad checks.

• Make it a practice to never respond to unsolicited mail.
• If someone really needs to get in touch with you, they can call or send registered mail.
• Never send refunds or deliver goods in exchange for a cashier's check that has not been authenticated by the paying bank.

ATM scams

Using a skimmer -- a card-swipe device on a doctored or phony ATM that reads your CheckCard -- the fraudster uses a blank card to encode information from your CheckCard and create a counterfeit. Your PIN is confiscated through a small camera mounted on the ATM. You won't know you've been scammed because your CheckCard hasn't been stolen and still works at other machines.

• Avoid unfamiliar ATMs, particularly stand-alone machines at tourist sites in Florida and elsewhere.
• Use ATMs at credit union or bank branches, if possible, and be on the lookout for odd-looking ATM equipment, strange wires, and so on.
• Monitor accounts regularly for unusual activity.
• If you think you've been scammed, contact Spokane Teachers Credit Union and the Federal Trade Commission at (877) 438-4338.

Destroy digital data

Use a file shredding product such as DBAN to make sure that all data on hard drives is completely destroyed. For CD, DVD, or tape media, you should physically destroy it by breaking or shattering it before disposing of it. There are shredders designed specifically to shred CD/DVD media.

Analyze your credit report annually*

This has always been good advice, but it used to cost money, or you had to first be rejected from receiving credit so that you could get a free copy. Now it is possible to get a free look at your credit report once per year. The big three credit reporting agencies -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- now provide free credit reports to consumers.

Visit annualcreditreport.com, a centralized service for consumers to request annual credit reports. Review your report to ensure that the information on it is accurate. Also look for any accounts that you did not open, or any other suspicious entries or activity.

*STCU is not affiliated with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion nor is it a credit reporting agency. STCU does not guarantee the information provided by Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, which is a "consumer reporting agency" under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Any dispute with the information found in an Equifax, Experian orTransUnion credit report must be made directly to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion not the Credit Union.