Our commitment to security
Newcastle Permanent maintains an ongoing commitment to the integrity, availability and confidentiality of your financial resources. As part of this commitment we have outlined a number of general safety tips we recommend you practice when dealing with your financial institution.
Cheques
- Keep your cheque book in a safe and secure place.
- Never pre-sign cheques.
- When posting cheques in the mail, cross the cheque 'not negotiable' and where possible, send it in a plain envelope not a window faced envelope.
- Do not use pencil to write your cheques. Use a black pen.
- If your cheque book has been lost or stolen, immediately notify our Member Support Centre on 13 19 87 or advise your local branch.
Bank accounts, passbook accounts, everyday accounts
- Notify our Member Support Centre on 13 19 87 as soon as possible when you change your address.
- Do not disclose your personal or account information over the phone unless you initiated the call.
- Always check your statements and report any unauthorised transactions to our Member Support Centre on 13 19 87.
- Never allow strangers to transact through your account for their own purposes.
- Never accept money in return for allowing others to transact through your account.
- Keep your passbooks in a safe and secure place.
- Don't give your passbook to another person.
- Never pre-sign withdrawal forms.
- If your passbook has been lost or stolen, immediately notify our Member Support Centre on 13 19 87 or advise your local branch.
Cashcards, credit and debit cards
- Sign new credit/debit cards immediately upon receipt. Destroy old cards once they have expired by cutting through the magnetic stripe and the chip.
- Memorise your PIN (Personal Identification Number) and do not keep it with your card. Do not disclose your PIN/password or confidential details to any person.
- Report lost/stolen cards, chequebooks or passbooks immediately to our Member Support Centre on 13 19 87 or visit your local branch.
- If you receive a call from anyone claiming to be Newcastle Permanent staff requesting your PIN or Password, BE SUSPICIOUS. Our staff will never call you and ask for these.
- Keep your credit or debit card in sight during a transaction.
- When using your credit card to make purchases via the Internet, only use well known/reputable companies. Make sure that a padlock symbol appears in the bottom right hand corner of the website, indicating a secure operating environment.
- When using your credit card to make purchases via the internet Verified by Visa may, depending on the transaction, ask you to confirm some personal details before the transaction can proceed. These details will be entered on a Newcastle Permanent Verified by Visa web screen, providing additional protection for your card against fraudulent use.
- Be vigilant in checking your statements. Always report any unauthorised or suspicious transactions billed to your account and contact Newcastle Permanent immediately, even if the unauthorised transaction is a very small amount.
- Make it a priority to get your card back after completing a purchase. Sometimes cards are intentionally retained by salespeople in order to later commit fraud.
ATMs and EFTPOS
- Ensure that no one can observe you entering your PIN when using the ATM or making an EFTPOS purchase.
- Be discreet when withdrawing cash at an ATM.
- Keep your card in sight when making an EFTPOS transaction.
- If a shop assistant wants to swipe your card out of your sight, ask why this is necessary.
- If a shop assistant claims it is necessary to swipe your card in a second machine, immediately ask for your card to be returned to you. If possible, use a cheque or cash to complete the purchase, or cancel the purchase.
- EFTPOS receipts should be kept secure. Destroy them if not needed.
- If you believe an ATM has been tampered with, do not use it. Advise the nearest Newcastle Permanent branch or call our Member Support Centre on 13 19 87.
Internet and Phone banking
The Internet is a great way to communicate, share information and do business, but it is not tightly controlled. Because of this, there are a number of threats that can potentially cause problems for you when using the Internet.
Read more about maximising your online and Internet and Phone banking security.
Identity theft
Identity theft occurs when a person steals an individual or company's personal information. This information can then be used to fraudulently open accounts with financial institutions, obtain credit, purchase goods or services and even obtain passports and drivers licences.
There are steps you can take to prevent your details from being misused:
- Don't give away your personal details to anyone who does not have a legitimate reason to have them.
- Ensure documents such as your drivers licence and passport are kept in a safe place.
- Be cautious if you are contacted by telephone, fax, post, email or in person and asked for details such as your date of birth, mother's maiden name, PIN or password. Newcastle Permanent will never contact you to verify details in this way. Offer to ring back any suspicious callers.
- Destroy any documents showing your name, address or other details before throwing them away.
- Avoid using your mother's maiden name as a security password. Where possible try not to use the same password for different accounts.
- If you move home, inform all relevant organisations of your change in address straight away to make sure all your accounts move with you.
Some warning signs that your identity may have been stolen are:
- You receive bills, invoices or receipts addressed to you for goods or services you haven't ordered or letters from solicitors or debt collection agencies relating to debts that aren't yours.
- You receive letters relating to applications for accounts, goods or services you haven't made or statements for accounts in your name that aren't yours.
- There are transactions on your statements that you don't recognise.
- Important identity documents, such as your passport, drivers licence or utility bills have gone missing.
- There are new accounts appearing on your credit file that you don't recognise.
- You receive no post at all.
- You apply for finance and are unexpectedly declined.
Social networking websites
Treat social networking websites in the same way as face-to-face meetings. Do your friends really need to know your date of birth, mobile number, employer or home address? You might want to consider limiting profile access to your close friends only. Fraudsters can scour your profile for anything they can use for crime and may be able to obtain enough information to pass themselves off as you. Read more about identify theft.
Banking scams
Please be aware of scams such as the examples provided below. We cannot list all of them, however as a rule of thumb, if the offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- Nigerian Scam: Fraudsters have been sending out letters inviting individuals to participate in a scheme that ultimately turns out to be non existent. Usually, the letters purport to be from a government official who needs help in distributing millions of dollars out of the country in return for a cut of the money. Recipients of the letters are required to divulge bank account details and forward tens of thousands of dollars in 'advance fees'.
- Spanish Lottery Scam: Victims of this scam receive a letter advising them they have won a large prize from the 'Spanish Lottery'. In order to collect the prize, they must send money before a certain date to a bank account in Spain to cover the cost of traces, bank fees, delivery and insurance costs.
- Email Employment Scam: Victims of these scams are asked to provide their bank account details to prospective employers with the view to facilitate transfer of funds to overseas parties. In return, the victims are compensated by a commission payment. However, the funds transferred have been obtained fraudulently. Do not provide bank account details to any prospective employer until you are satisfied that the employer is genuine and/or you have signed a contract of employment.
- Be aware of other scams, such as spam e-mails, chain letters and people claiming to be representatives of government departments, financial institutions or other businesses.
- Do not give or send your name, bank account details, copies of your passport, birth certificate or any other personal details to anyone other than for legitimate purposes.
- Be suspicious of any correspondence received from overseas advising you to forward large sums of money or that you have won a prize.
Industry links
Like Newcastle Permanent, there are many organisations concerned about online security. Here are just some of the Australian organisations* providing useful information to help protect your information online:
When should you contact us?
If you have reason to believe:
- Your account has been compromised.
- You have received a suspicious email or phone call regarding your account.
- You have not received expected mail from us.
- You see anyone acting suspiciously at a Newcastle Permanent ATM or branch.
- Mail you have received regarding a lottery win is suspicious.
- You have been approached to transfer funds and/or disclose your account details online in order to gain employment.
Please phone 13 19 87 and ask for our Corporate Security Department immediately if you suspect your personal details may have become known to others or if you believe an unauthorised transaction has been performed on your account.