Privacy and security

Avoid sharing your sensitive personal information online or over the phone with unknown parties.

Despite the many protective measures in place, when using the internet you have to keep in mind that security and confidentiality cannot be fully guaranteed beyond a doubt. It’s your responsibility to be careful with the information you choose to disclose. The personal information that fraudsters look for most is:

• Your personal information (full name, date of birth, address)
• Your bank account numbers
• Your identification documents (social insurance, drivers license, passport)
• Your passwords and the answers to your security questions

Be careful about the information you post about yourself on social media. As much as possible, limit your posts to smaller, private groups of people you trust. Don’t post everything publicly.

Be vigilant when someone contacts you by email, by text or over the phone.

Fraudsters can be very creative when it comes to trying to get their hands on your personal information. Most of the time, they try to pass as a credible organization, but the supposed reason for contacting you is always surprising or alarming.

The strategies they use often have several points in common:

• They signal a problem — E.g.: There has been suspicious activity related to your account. Please act quickly.
• They say it’s very urgent — E.g.: You must immediately pay back an unexpected amount or risk serious problems.
• They promise an unexpected gain — E.g.: You’ve won an amazing amount of money or a gift. Claim it now.

If you are unsure about the authenticity of a message or the sender:

• Don’t click on any links in the message.
• Don’t open any attached files.
• Don’t reply to the sender, so that you don’t confirm the validity of your email address.

Learn more about different types of identity theft here.

Use safe practices when using your electronic devices

Fraud techniques and attempts are constantly evolving. To protect your personal information, always be careful when using electronic devices.

Protect your computer

• Keep your devices up to date and install protective measures such as security software and firewalls.
• Make sure the websites you browse and the files you download are legitimate. Protect your mobile devices
• Activate your phone’s screen lock and add a password, PIN or pattern to unlock it.
• Only download applications from trusted sources and install the latest updates and security patches.
• Don’t share sensitive information when you are logged into a public wifi network.

Wait until you have access to a secure network or use mobile data.

• Don't leave your phone unattended and enable the phone's location and remote data wipe functions.
• Back up your data regularly on a secure medium and then delete it from your device before you have it repaired, sold or traded.

Finally, make strong and unique passwords for each of your accounts. A strong password contains a minimum of 12 characters and combines upper case and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.

For example:

• Weak password: Kitten
• Strong password: B85tz532*