How Do You Prevent Fraud

At Haven we understand how important the security and confidentiality of your information is to you.
 
Click on the headings below to find out how you can protect.

Fraud can happen to anyone, at any time, and it can have serious consequences.

 
A campaign was launched to help raise awareness and combat incidents of fraud as part of the Financial Fraud Awareness Week, which ran from 9th to 15th October 2017.
 

This initiative is led by the Banking Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) and supported by the banking sector. As part of the campaign, research was carried out by the BPFI of which some key findings included:

  • 79% of Irish adults have experienced some form of financial fraud, with the most common type being email scams (61%).
  • Nearly half (46%) know someone who has been affected by financial fraud.
  • 4 in 10 people are concerned about financial fraud in their everyday lives.
  • Common types of scams experienced by people are phone scams (39%), text or SMS scams (37%) and online scams (31%).

 

The BPFI have developed and launched a one stop shop website, FraudSMART.ie, to educate, inform and keep current fraud information easily accessible, so that both businesses and consumers can prevent and protect against falling victim to scams”.

For more information, visit FraudSMART.ie. 

Anti-virus software protects your computer. It works by matching suspicious files on your computer against a database of known malicious code. In this regard, it is vital that you keep your anti-virus software up-to-date. Most anti-virus products will clear this malicious software from your computer.

If your computer is infected with a virus, anti-virus software should alert you to the infection. It's important to regularly update your anti-virus software and be aware of all new fraud developments and threats.

It is important that you keep your software up-to-date. New ways to attack computers are being developed daily by criminals. Software providers are constantly monitoring these new potential threats to their products. As such, they release regular updates to their products to counter any new security threat to their software. By keeping software up-to-date, you lower the potential risk faced from criminal attacks.

You can get further protection against harmful codes by using firewall software that prevents unauthorised access when you're on the Internet. A firewall is a program or hardware device that filters the information coming through the Internet connection into your PC.

Some operating systems come with a firewall built in. Otherwise, a software firewall can be installed on the computer in your home that has an Internet connection.

To counteract the threats posed by external fraudsters, Haven advises that you also keep in mind the points below which will help increase the security of your PC and personal information.

 

   
DO keep your anti-virus software up-to-date DON'T open e-mail attachments from people you don't know
DO keep your operating system up-to-date DON'T open e-mail attachments from people you know unless you know what's in the attachment
DO keep your browser up-to-date DON'T share your passwords with anyone
DO install a personal firewall on your computer DON'T click on links sent in a text message
DO make sure that, if you're sending sensitive personal information, your connection is secure. A closed padlock icon appears on the status bar and the URL will start with https:// rather than http:// DON’T click on a link or open an attachment to log into our website as these can lead to fraudulent sites
DO make sure the security settings on your Web browser are at an adequate standard