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Keeping your Payments Secure

Identity theft, whereby an unauthorised person obtains access to your bank account or obtains credit cards or loans in your name, is a growing problem. It is very important that you carefully guard any personal information that might allow somebody to impersonate you.

 

1.      Always keep important personal documents, payment cards and cheque books in a safe and secure place. Valuable documents include your passport, birth certificate, driving licence, payment cards, receipts, financial statements and even utility bills.

2.      Dispose of financial statements, receipts and other personal documents with care. Rip up or preferably shred any such documents before disposing of them.

3.      Don't share personal information unless you are entirely confident that you know with whom you are dealing. Be particularly cautious if you are cold-called by someone claiming to be from a bank or the Gardaí. Ask them for their phone number, verify it and call them back.

4.      Never respond to unsolicited e-mails requesting information about you. ‘Phishing’ is name given to the means by which individuals make unsolicited attempts to obtain account security information by sending an e-mail which appears to have come from a bank or financial institution. Should you receive one of these e-mails, contact your bank or financial institution immediately using the contact details from your financial statements or phonebook.

5.      While your bank may ask for specific characters within your password or PIN (Personal Identification Number), your bank will never ask you for your whole password or PIN.

6.      Always be careful when disclosing your payment card details and never disclose your PIN to anyone.

7.      Always check receipts against your bank statements and if you don’t recognise a transaction, contact your bank or card issuer immediately. You can check transactions via telephone or internet banking services.

8.      Your post can be valuable information in the wrong hands. If you fail to receive specific post that you were expecting (e.g. a bank statement, payment card or utility bill), contact the company in question. Receiving such information electronically reduces this risk considerably.

9.      Guard your payment cards. Don't let them out of your sight when making a purchase. Report lost or stolen cards or suspected fraudulent use of your card to your bank or card issuer immediately. Keep a note of your card issuer’s telephone numbers.

10.   If you move home, make sure you contact your bank and all other relevant organisations to confirm your change of address details.