QPCU is committed to providing a safe on-line banking environment for members. We will never email, call or SMS you and ask for any passwords. Any requests of this nature are attempts to gain access to your account and you should never reply or provide any information.

Implementing these simple tips will help to safeguard your Visa and online banking.

Online banking, email communication, phone banking, and BPAY have made it easier and more convenient to manage personal finances. However, hackers have been targeting on-line bank customers with a series of 'hoaxes'. Often called phishing, these hoaxes attempt to trick consumers into providing personal banking information. For example, a user might receive an email which pretends to be an official communication from a banking organisation. These hoax emails often ask the receiver to click onto a web link to update their banking data. This link directs the customer to a bogus web page which is designed to simulate the bank's authentic web site in order to trick the customer into providing personal information. The hackers use the information to hack into the customer's bank accounts. In addition, as members might have seen in the media, there has been a recent security threat to Visa cards overseas.

Fortunately, Queensland Police Credit Union members have not been the target of one of these hoaxes. However we would like to reiterate the precautions that you need to take to safeguard your accounts.

It is also important to remember that QPCU will never send an email requesting a member to provide a PIN or password via reply email.

Do
	Only access the QPCU Internet banking site by typing www.qpcu.com.au into your browser window.
	When in the sign-on page for Internet banking, prior to entering in personal information, confirm that your data is encrypted by ensuring that the symbol of a lock appears at the bottom right hand corner of the browser.
	Check your last sign-in date and time and ensure that it is correct.
	Select 'sign out' from the Internet Banking menu when you complete your transaction.
	Check your statements for anything that looks suspicious.
	Protect your cards as if they were cash - always keep them in a secure place.
	Check your statements for anything that looks suspicious.
	Run virus and spam protection software on your computer and keep virus definitions updated.
	Install a firewall.
Don't
	Click onto a link in an email in order to go to your Internet Sign-in Page (QPCU would NEVER request this of you).
	Click on a link or attachment in an email from an unknown source.
	Disclose personal details unless you initiate the request (QPCU would not contact you for this purpose).
	Use common information such as date of birth, name, postcode, etc as your password/PIN, or keep records of your PIN and passwords, memorise them instead.

QPCU takes all possible precautions to protect our members from these attacks including:

• Actively seeking out fake websites or other scams which target our institution (none have been discovered to date).
• Enforcing second level authentication when members do Internet banking (which means you are asked for your password when you log onto QPCU's Internet Banking Site and prior to any transaction being completed).
• To ensure that your information is secure when making on-line transactions, our Internet Banking Site has 128 bit encryption in place from Verisign. This ensures that any information sent from you to us and from QPCU to its members is encrypted at the highest possible level.

It is also important to remember that QPCU will never send an email requesting a member to provide a PIN or password via reply email.