Information Desk

- Security Information

Because we value your membership, the following are the policies and practices of People's Alliance Federal Credit Union in relation to governing and protecting your privacy.

People's Alliance Federal Credit Union Privacy Notice

FACTS - What Does People's Alliance Federal Credit Union (Pafcu) Do With Your Personal Information?

Why?
Financial companies choose how they share your personal information. Federal law gives the consumers the right to limit some but not all sharing. Federal law also requires us to tell you how we collect, share, and protect your personal information. Please read this notice carefully to understand what we do.

What?
The types of personal information we collect and share depend on the product or service you have with us. This information can include:

  • Social Security number and income
  • Account balances and payment history
  • Credit history and credit scores

When you are no longer our member, we continue to share your information as described in this notice.

How?
All financial companies need to share members' personal information to run their everyday business. In the section below, we list the reasons financial companies can share their members' personal information; the reasons PAFCU chooses to share; and whether you can limit this sharing.

Reasons we can share your personal information Does PAFCU Share? Can you limit this sharing?

Questions? Call (631) 434-3500
For our everyday business purposes - such as to process your transactions, maintain your account(s), respond to court orders and legal investigations, or to report to credit bureaus YES NO
For our marketing purposes - to offer our products and services to you NO WE DON'T SHARE
For joint marketing with other financial companies NO WE DON'T SHARE
For our affiliates' everyday business purposes - information about your transactions and experiences NO WE DON'T SHARE
For our affiliates' everyday business purposes information about your creditworthiness NO WE DON'T SHARE
For nonaffiliates to market to you NO WE DON'T SHARE
What we do
How does PAFCU protect my personal information? To protect your information from unauthorized access and use, we use security measures that comply with federal law. These measures include computer safeguards, secured files and buildings, internal controls, and staff training.
How does PAFCU collect my personal information? We collect your personal information, for example, when you:
  • open an account or deposit money
  • pay your bills or apply for a loan
  • use your credit or debit card
Why can't I limit all sharing? Federal law gives you the right to limit only:
  • sharing for affiliates' everyday business purposes - information about your creditworthiness
  • affiliates from using your information to market to you
  • sharing for nonaffiliates to market to you
Definitions
Affiliates Companies related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.
  • PAFCU has no affiliates
Nonaffiliates Companies not related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies.
  • PAFCU does not share with nonaffiliates so they can market to you

- Security Information

PAFCU will never send unsolicited e-mails regarding security issues or account information and will NEVER ask for personal information such as credit card or PIN numbers, or online banking passwords. Again, recipients should NOT click on the links in the message. Instead, they should delete the message.

How to practice "safe computing"

The number and sophistication of phishing and spoofing scams sent out to consumers is continuing to increase dramatically. While online banking is widely considered to be as safe or safer than in-branch or ATM banking, as a general rule you should be careful about giving out your personal financial information over the Internet. Below is a list of recommendations you can use to avoid becoming a victim of these scams:
  1. Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information
  2. Phishers typically include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their emails to get people to react immediately
  3. They typically ask for information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, etc.
  4. Phisher emails typically are not as personalized and may contain spelling errors while valid messages from your bank or e-commerce company generally are accurate in the way they spell your name and your financial institution's name.
  5. Don't use the links in an email to get to any Web page, if you suspect the message might not be authentic. Instead, call the company on the telephone, or log onto the website directly by typing in the Web address in your browser
  6. Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal financial information
  7. Only communicate information such as credit card numbers or account information via a secure website or the telephone
  8. Always ensure that you're using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your Web browser
  9. A secure Web server designation can be found by checking the beginning of the Web address in your browser's address bar - it should be "https://" rather than just "http://"

What is "Phishing"?

Phishing (FISH.ing) pp. Phishing is a high-tech scam that uses spam or pop-up messages to deceive you into disclosing your credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information. -phisher n.

Example Citations:
Phishing is the term coined by hackers who imitate legitimate companies in email messages to entice people to share passwords or credit-card numbers. Recent victims include Bank of America, Best Buy and eBay, where people were directed to Web pages that looked nearly identical to the companies' sites.

What is "Spoofing"?

Pretending to be something it is not, whether an email, website, etc...

How to report "Phishing" or "Spoofing"

We suggest reporting "phishing" or "spoofed" emails to the following groups:
  • Forward the email to reportphishing@antiphishing.org
  • Forward the email to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov
  • Forward the email to the "abuse" email address at the company that is being spoofed (e.g. "spoof@ebay.com")
  • When forwarding spoofed messages, always include the entire original email with its original header information intact
  • Notify the Internet Fraud Complaint Center of the FBI by filing a complaint on their website: www.ifccfbi.gov