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Greylock Fights Fraud with Education, Technology01:22PM / Friday, March 27, 2009
Members are more Savvy, Less Vulnerable than in Past
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Greylock Federal continues to play a leading role in helping Berkshire County residents maintain the safety of their financial information. “We lead the way in preserving the safety of financial information,” said President Angelo Stracuzzi. “In the past 3 years, as fraud worldwide has increased, we have actually seen a decrease in the impact to our members thanks to continued education and investments in new technology. We have invested more than $200,000 in security initiatives, and we have saved millions of dollars for Greylock and our Member/ Owners thanks to these measures.”
Some of Greylock’s investments are behind the scenes in the form of firewalls and other technology. “Every financial institution has to make these investments,” Stracuzzi said. “We have never had a breach of our systems and we take every precaution to protect Member information.” Other security measures taken by Greylock are more public and high profile including the following:
·Greylock was the first financial institution in Berkshire County to offer license and signature scanning. Having these scans in Greylock’s core system enables front line staff to prevent impersonators from accessing funds or information. Already more than 52,000 thousand licenses and signatures are on file electronically at the Credit Union.
·Greylock has posted literally hundreds of alerts on its Web site, published articles in newsletters, and held numerous forums on the subject of information security. The credit union has also produced educational radio ads which run frequently throughout Berkshire County. “We have a continuous education campaign to help our Members protect their own information and it seems to be working,” said Marilyn Sperling, Senior Vice President of Member Services. “Sadly there are some people who fall prey to these fraudulent schemes, but the numbers are small and seem to get smaller each time.”
·The credit union invested in a 24/7 fraud monitoring service for its VISA credit and debit card holders. The services tracks purchasing patterns and if those patterns change, the service may disrupt a transaction and immediately contact the Member directly to verify the legitimacy of the purchase. “It’s a great system and has prevented more than $1 million in potential fraud,” Sperling said. “When a Member is contacted by the monitoring service, it is much different than when these scammers call. The service asks a series of yes and no questions, but does not ask for any account numbers, PINs, or security codes. I have been contacted myself and it works well.”
The type of advice generally offered by Greylock to its Members includes the following tips which are placed daily in branches, newsletters, Web alerts, radio ads and all other communications channels:
* If you receive a call, email or internet inquiry asking you for account-specific information, DO NOT respond. Hang up, and alert your financial institution as soon as possible.
* Watch out for scams that promise something for nothing. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
* Lock up or shred any documents with personal information.
* Review your account statements regularly and order a credit report at least once each year.
* Never use your Social Security number as a bank account or driver’s license number.
* Avoid sending checks from your home mailbox. Use a secure US Postal Service mailbox or Greylock’s free and secure online banking and bill pay services.
* Online Security Tip: Never open links in an e-mail unless you are 100% sure who sent it. It is safer to type in the web address yourself. Greylock will never send you an e-mail with a link.
* Have your driver’s license and signature scanned. That way no one else can claim to be you.
Greylock Membership is open to anyone who lives, works, attends school, worships or regularly conducts business in Berkshire County. Greylock Federal is wholly owned by its more than 65,000 members and Greylock offers full-service branches in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, Lee, Adams, North Adams, and Williamstown. More information is available at www.greylock.org. |
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