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NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT:
Michael Herd
mherd@nacha.org
Take Steps to Protect Your Checking Account
Information, NACHA Advises
Herndon, Virginia, June 18, 2004 – NACHA –
The Electronic Payments Association has compiled a
list of steps consumers can take to help prevent
unauthorized payments from their checking accounts:
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Safeguard your checking account information, just
as you would any other sensitive personal
information.
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Never give your checking account information to
telemarketers or to callers claiming to need to
confirm or verify your account information.
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Never give your checking account information to
e-mailers claiming to need to verify or update
your account information.
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Don’t carry your checkbook around with you
unnecessarily.
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Don’t leave bill payments or other checks in your
mailbox.
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Always review your monthly account statement, or
go to your financial institution’s web site to
view your account activity more frequently. Report
any unauthorized transaction or suspicious
activity to your financial institution
immediately.
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Report lost or stolen checks and checkbooks
immediately to your financial institution.
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Tear or shred any old checks or account statements
before throwing them away.
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Consider using electronic alternatives to paying
by check when making purchases or paying bills.
This substantially reduces, or even eliminates,
the number of people that see the personal and
account information that is printed on your
checks, and provides better protection under
Federal regulations.
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If you believe your checking account information
has been stolen, contact your financial
institution immediately.
Elliott C. McEntee, President and Chief Executive
Officer of NACHA, said, “It is fine to use your
checking account information on the Web or over the
phone to pay bills or to pay companies you know and
trust. But you should safeguard your checking
account information, just as you would your address,
phone number, Social Security number, and other
account numbers.”
McEntee also noted, “Consumers have better
protection with electronic payments than they do
when using paper checks. There are federal
regulations that provide consumers with substantial
protection against unauthorized electronic debits to
their checking accounts. There are no comparable
federal regulations for checks.”
Noted e-commerce analyst James Van Dyke of Javelin
Strategy & Research says that, counter to popularly
held opinion, consumers that use online banking and
bill payment services actually reduce their
vulnerability to identity theft and unauthorized
withdrawals. Javelin’s number one consumer tip to
protect against identity fraud is “Eliminate
High-Risk Paper.” (See
http://www.javelinstrategy.com/Javelins_Top_Five_Identity_Fraud_Tips.pdf.)
According to Van Dyke, “Receiving and paying bills
online helps prevent identity theft. By viewing and
paying bills and statements online, consumers and
businesses eliminate one of the most common means of
identity theft—stealing personal information
contained in bills, bank statements, and credit
cards that are delivered to a person’s mailbox, or
in the signed, outgoing check used to pay the paper
bill. The information can be more easily obtained in
the physical world than via secure sites such as a
bank’s Web site.” (Quoted from Javelin Strategy and
Research news release of October 2, 2003.)
Report Fraud:
Federal Trade Commission – use the FTC’s online
complaint form at
https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01.
National Consumers League – report fraud to the
NCL’s National Fraud Information Center at
1-800-876-7060 or
http://www.fraud.org/.
Internet Fraud Complaint Center (cosponsored by the
FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center) -
http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/cf1.asp.
About NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association
NACHA is the leading organization in developing
electronic solutions to improve the payments system.
NACHA represents more than 12,000 financial
institutions through direct memberships and a
network of regional payments associations. NACHA is
a member of the National Consumers League Alliance
Against Fraud in Telemarketing and Electronic
Commerce and a sponsor of the NCL’s National Fraud
Information Center (see
http://www.fraud.org/friends/sponsors.htm).
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