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Staying Safe Online

Each year thousands of Canadians fall victim to cyber fraud and online scams. As these scams grow more sophisticated, it’s important that we all do what we can to stay safe online. OCU has important safeguards in place to protect you and your information. There are also things that you can do today to protect yourself. We all play a role in the fight against financial crime.

If you’re a victim of fraud or identity theft

  • Call us immediately at (250) 495-6522 or visit the branch
  • Cancel your credit cards and call your credit card provider
  • Change your online passwords
  • Notify law enforcement

If you think you’ve been targeted by an email scam or other fraudulent activity, report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, through its website at www.antifraudcentre.ca, or by telephone at 1-888-495-8501.

Tips to Keep Your Account Safe

Create Strong Passwords

Always use secure passwords and never re-use passwords. If criminals obtain your username and password
from one site, they will try other sites with the same credentials. Never share your personal access code. And never share your online banking details. When you create your Personal Access Code, don’t use birthdays or any format that someone could guess. Don’t use sequential numbers (eg. 1234).

Type Login Addresses Manually or Use a Saved Bookmark

Never follow an email link to a login page. It may be a phishing email trying to trick you to go to a spoof login page. It may look real, but it’s not.

Enable and Install all Updates and Patches on Computers and Devices

Updates remove vulnerabilities and keep your information and identity safe.

Install Antivirus Software

Antivirus software is an important way to protect yourself against cyber attacks.

View Financial Information on Secure Home Wifi or Cellular Data

Assume that everything you do over public Wi-Fi is being watched—especially on mobile devices. Never do any site logins or financial transactions on a public wireless Internet connection. If you need to conduct financial business in a coffee shop, turn off Wi-Fi and use your cellular data instead.

Log out of Your Session

When you are finished with your banking session, always log out by clicking the “log out” button, rather than simply closing the web browser. To help protect your information, your online banking session will end automatically if there has been no activity for a specified amount of time. If your session has timed out, no further transactions can be made until you log in again.

Keep Personal Information Personal

Hackers can use social media profiles to try and figure out your passwords. Lock down your privacy settings and avoid sharing information like birthdays, addresses, your mother’s maiden name, etc. Be wary of friend requests from people you don’t know.

Enable Autodeposit for Interac e-Transfer

With Interac e-Transfer Autodeposit, there’s no need to log into your digital banking or answer a security question to receive a transfer. Once you register your email or mobile phone number, anytime someone sends you money, the funds will be automatically deposited into the specified account. This service eliminates the need for a security question and answer in every transaction, lessening the risk that someone unintended could intercept the funds.

Visit Only Secure Websites

A secure URL should begin with “https” rather than “http.” The “s” in “https” stands for secure, which means the site is using a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate. You can also look out for the padlock symbol at the beginning of the URL. While the SSL prevents many risks, it does not guarantee that a website is safe from all threats. Always use caution when visiting unfamiliar sites.

Current Scam Alerts

Card Pick-Up Scam

A new phone scam is targeting individuals, particularly seniors, with fraudsters posing as employees at a credit union, bank or credit card company. The caller creates a sense of urgency, often claiming they have detected fraudulent activity on your account and that your card(s) must be canceled immediately.

The scammer then instructs you to place your card(s) and PIN in an envelope and hand it over to someone who will come to your door. While you are still on the phone, another fraudster, posing as a courier service employee, arrives within minutes to collect the envelope.

Once the fraudsters have your card, they quickly deplete your funds through various methods, including ATM withdrawals, point-of-sale purchases, and online transactions using your credit cards.

To gain your trust, the caller may provide some of your personal details, such as your name and address. In some cases, they may instruct you to cut the card into pieces but leave the chip intact before placing it in the envelope. However, once they receive the card pieces, they can tape them back together and still use the chip for purchases.

Stay vigilant: Never hand over your bank card or credit card to anyone. Never give anyone your PIN. OCU will never ask for this information. Always verify the identity of anyone claiming to represent your bank by contacting your bank directly through a trusted number.

Remember, scammers can make any name or number show up on your caller ID. That’s called spoofing. So while the number displayed may match a website or number online, that does not ensure legitimacy.

Refund Scam

Scammers are sending fake notifications claiming that a payment has been processed and instructing the recipient to contact them for a refund. Once they engage with the member, the scammers gain access to the member’s online banking and transfer a significant amount from their savings or chequing account into their main chequing account. They then create the illusion of having refunded too much and request that the member wire the difference back to them.

The fraudulent emails regarding payment processing are highly convincing and difficult to detect.

Common Types of Scams

  • Identity Fraud – Criminals stealing someone else’s personal information for criminal purposes.
  • Extortion – When someone unlawfully obtains money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution through coercion.
  • Personal Information – A scammer, pretending to be from a business, government agency, a bank, or utility company, urgently asks you to verify your personal information.
  • Phishing – Criminals use tactics to trick you into giving your personal information or clicking on links.
  • Counterfeit Merchandise – Counterfeiters use websites that have the same look and feel as a legitimate manufacturer to sell products at big discounts. The products are far inferior and could pose significant health risks.
    And more.

Account Security and Risk

Section five (Account Security and Risk) of our Personal Account Contract Terms and Conditions outlines steps that our members must take to keep their account secure. Read Section 5 here.

Protection and Management of Passwords:

Members are required to safeguard the provided password for accessing their account online.
They must maintain the secrecy and confidentiality of their password at all times.
Changing the password as per the credit union’s instructions or when authorized users change is mandatory.

Liability and Account Protection:

Members are held fully responsible for any transactions made using their password, including those by household members.
Even if shared for third-party services, members are accountable for their password’s use.

Reporting Lost or Compromised Passwords/Cards

Immediate notification to the credit union is required if unauthorized access to the password is suspected or confirmed.
Prompt communication to the credit union is mandatory if the password becomes accessible to anyone else or if the debit card is lost or stolen.

Secure Use of Online Services:

Acknowledgment is made that online transactions carry inherent risks, despite the credit union employing security measures.
Personal responsibility is emphasized for securing devices and taking necessary precautions while accessing online banking services.