The Competition Bureau of Canada, in partnership with the RCMP and other organizations, has designated March as Fraud Prevention Month.

At North Winnipeg Credit Union, we take fraud prevention very seriously and take every precaution to ensure our systems and procedures meet the highest levels of security. But we also rely on members to help us prevent fraud, and one of the important ways you can do that is by securing your home computer.

Online banking is a powerful and convenient tool, but if your home computer becomes compromised, someone pretending to be you may be able to transfer your funds to another location, apply for loans that you’re not aware of or even set up automatic credit card payments for cards that aren’t yours.

To prevent that from happening, there are several things you can do to safeguard your computer:

•Keep your operating system up to date and immediately install all available security patches
•Set up a firewall to prevent authorized access
•Install anti-virus software
•Install anti-spyware software

It’s also recommended that you use a unique alphanumeric password for your online banking and that you change your password on a regular basis. Don’t use the same password as you’ve used for other sites and be sure not to share your password with anyone else.