Around The Traps

We are now well into 2022 and as we continue to see developments in technology, we’ve also seen devastating events happen both domestically with the recent floods in NSW and Queensland and worldwide, such as the ongoing presence of Covid-19 and global conflicts. Unfortunately, both these factors contribute to an increase in opportunities for criminals to take advantage of people by disguising scams as legitimate goods or services rendered. 

It’s important now more than ever that you are taking the right actions to make sure your personal information and accounts remain safe and secure. Qudos Bank takes the protection of your information and transaction data very seriously, and we have a number of controls in place to protect your accounts. In addition to our fraud prevention tools and security protocols, we also strongly encourage you to take steps towards educating and protecting yourself. You can find more information on the types of scams and tips on how to avoid falling victim within the Qudos Bank Fraud Hub located on our website. If you are ever unsure about a particular communication you have received either via email, SMS or a phone call, you can refer to the Fraud Hub for guidance or contact us direct.

Protecting your Privacy

Qudos Bank are advocates for Privacy Awareness Week (PAW), an annual initiative run by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) in conjunction with state and territory privacy regulators and the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities forum.

Privacy Awareness Week highlights the importance of your privacy and how you can protect your personal information. This year PAW will take place from the 2^nd to 8^th May 2022.  The theme from this year’s campaign is ‘Privacy: The Foundation of Trust – we all have a role to play’.

In conjunction with this initiative, we wanted to share some helpful tips and actions you can take to protect your privacy:  

• Be cautious of suspicious communications: Hackers can use phishing emails to access your secure information. If you are suspicious of an email or SMS and don’t recognise the sender, do not click on any link, or open any attachments.
• Two Factor Authentication: Improve your security online by enabling two factor authentications. This additional security makes it harder for a hacker to access your personal information when signing into services or authorising first time payees. Remember, never give out any of your passcodes or second factor codes to anyone, no matter who they claim to be.
• Be wary of public WIFI networks: Public WIFI networks are usually not as secure as password protected WIFI networks and you should avoid signing into your online banking or mobile apps when using public WIFI.
• Secure your documents and files: Keep your documents and files secure especially if they contain any personal information, consider a password lock on your hard drives or USBs.
• Secure passwords and PINs: keep your passwords, PINs and other access codes secure. Consider a password manager to keep all your log ins safe. Hackers are not able to access these as they are stored in encrypted databases. More information on improving your online banking security can be found on our Fraud Hub.
• Set your profile to private: enable privacy settings and review them regularly, especially social media and networking sites. Consider making your profile private. It is also good practise to limit the amount of personal data shared on social media as criminals may record your information such as birthday dates and your physical location.
• Shred your mail: When you need to dispose of any mail or documents that contain personal information, always shred them before placing them in the recycling bin.
• Secure your Mail: Remember to ensure your mailboxes are secure to limit the chance of people being able to steal your mail.
• Update your devices and apps: It’s important to keep your devices and apps up to date with the most recent software version, most updates include important security and bug fixes which help protect your information.
• Be wary of using online features - Refrain from using the Auto-fill feature available in your browser to store User ID and password credentials for banking and government issued sites. This gives criminals the opportunity to bypass and extract your personal information for malicious use.

For more resources on Privacy Awareness Week please visit the OAIC education website: https://education.oaic.gov.au/paw2022/

Summary

Qudos takes the protection of our customers, your information and financial security very seriously.  And whilst we all have a role to play the first line of defence is you.  I would like to leave you with this thought: 

Trust is something that should be earnt.

If we reflect deeper into the foundations of trust, we wouldn’t trust total strangers in our homes or with meaningful life possessions.  We should apply this same principle with our personal data, passcodes and banking accounts.