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Q. Can I protect myself against phishing attempts?
A. Unfortunately, it is likely that you may occasionally receive fraudulent e-mail appearing to have been sent by Desjardins or other financial institutions.
Your best protection is to stay vigilant:
- Never respond to an e-mail requesting personal information, regardless of who the sender is.
- Never click on a link inside an e-mail to log on to AccèsD or any other transactional site requiring an access code or password.
- Never open e-mail attachments if you don't know the sender.
- Always access the AccèsD or AccèsD Affaires log on page from your browser using the www.desjardins.com address.
- Look for a closed padlock in your browser's status bar, ensuring you are in a secured online environment. Also make sure the address displayed has an "s" in "https". You should also be able to view the site's digital certificates by double-clicking on the little closed padlock in your browser's status bar.
Also ensure your personal computer is adequately protected.
To find out more, see How to protect yourself.
Q. What is phishing?
A. Phishing is the practice of sending fraudulent e-mail asking the persons who receive them, under various pretexts, to update their banking or personal information by clicking a link directing them to a phony Web site. Pirates then collect the information provided and use it to make fraudulent transactions. The phony Web sites, just like the e-mails, appear to be authentic, often because they are exact copies of financial institutions' or companies' Web sites.
For example, after clicking on a link or attachment in the e-mail, users are taken to a dummy AccèsD logon page where fields were added to collect their personal information under false pretences (debit card number, AccèsD password, social insurance number, date of birth, etc.).
The term "phishing" is a variation on "fishing", in the sense it is done at large with the hopes that someone takes the bait and supplies the personal information requested. The term was inspired by the bad spelling of the first phishing attempts.
To find out more, see Online security.
Q. How can I tell that an e-mail is fraudulent?
A. You must be extremely careful, because the scam artists use the colours and logos of legitimate sites to make the e-mails look real.
Don't assume that you'd be able to recognize a fraudulent e-mail right away. Earlier phishing attempts involved badly-written e-mails and amateur page layouts, but today's phony e-mails are much sleeker and professional-looking.
To differentiate a phishing e-mail from a legitimate one, pay specific attention to the content of the message, instead of to the attached security features. Most of the time, these logos, signatures, security elements and backgrounds are counterfeits that are identical to the originals.
Here are some characteristics of fraudulent e-mails:
- The e-mails urge you to you act quickly under the pretext that:
- You are a finalist or winner of an official Desjardins contest (e.g.: "Desjardins pays your taxes!" contest).
- Your account may have been subject to unauthorized access (e.g.: a time and IP address may even be provided).
- You must update your personal information or your account will be frozen or deleted.
- Your account was used for fraud and you will be held accountable.
- You must sign up for a Desjardins online security feature (e.g.: AccèsD Safe).
- A simple accounting error has been made and corrected (in this case, you are not asked to do anything except click on a link to a phony Web site).
- The e-mails contain a hyperlink leading to a phony AccèsD site.
- The e-mails are often signed with the name or the logo of a security division.
- Some of the e-mails contain attached files.
Desjardins will never contact you by e-mail for any of these reasons or with any of these elements. Desjardins does not solicit members for personal and confidential information by e-mail. If you receive an e-mail like this, do not answer.
If, on the other hand, you receive an e-mail you believe to be fraudulent, forward it to us at phishing@desjardins.com.
To find out more, see Online security.
Q. Can I protect myself against phishing attempts?
A. Unfortunately, it is likely that you may occasionally receive fraudulent e-mail appearing to have been sent by Desjardins or other financial institutions.
Your best protection is to stay vigilant:
- Never respond to an e-mail requesting personal information, regardless of who the sender is.
- Never click on a link inside an e-mail to log on to AccèsD or any other transactional site requiring an access code or password.
- Never open e-mail attachments if you don't know the sender.
- Always access the AccèsD or AccèsD Affaires log on page from your browser using the www.desjardins.com address.
- Look for a closed padlock in your browser's status bar, ensuring you are in a secured online environment. Also make sure the address displayed has an "s" in "https". You should also be able to view the site's digital certificates by double-clicking on the little closed padlock in your browser's status bar.
Also ensure your personal computer is adequately protected.
To find out more, see How to protect yourself.
Q. What is phishing?
A. Phishing is the practice of sending fraudulent e-mail asking the persons who receive them, under various pretexts, to update their banking or personal information by clicking a link directing them to a phony Web site. Pirates then collect the information provided and use it to make fraudulent transactions. The phony Web sites, just like the e-mails, appear to be authentic, often because they are exact copies of financial institutions' or companies' Web sites.
For example, after clicking on a link or attachment in the e-mail, users are taken to a dummy AccèsD logon page where fields were added to collect their personal information under false pretences (debit card number, AccèsD password, social insurance number, date of birth, etc.).
The term "phishing" is a variation on "fishing", in the sense it is done at large with the hopes that someone takes the bait and supplies the personal information requested. The term was inspired by the bad spelling of the first phishing attempts.
To find out more, see Online security.
Q. How can I tell that an e-mail is fraudulent?
A. You must be extremely careful, because the scam artists use the colours and logos of legitimate sites to make the e-mails look real.
Don't assume that you'd be able to recognize a fraudulent e-mail right away. Earlier phishing attempts involved badly-written e-mails and amateur page layouts, but today's phony e-mails are much sleeker and professional-looking.
To differentiate a phishing e-mail from a legitimate one, pay specific attention to the content of the message, instead of to the attached security features. Most of the time, these logos, signatures, security elements and backgrounds are counterfeits that are identical to the originals.
Here are some characteristics of fraudulent e-mails:
- The e-mails urge you to you act quickly under the pretext that:
- You are a finalist or winner of an official Desjardins contest (e.g.: "Desjardins pays your taxes!" contest).
- Your account may have been subject to unauthorized access (e.g.: a time and IP address may even be provided).
- You must update your personal information or your account will be frozen or deleted.
- Your account was used for fraud and you will be held accountable.
- You must sign up for a Desjardins online security feature (e.g.: AccèsD Safe).
- A simple accounting error has been made and corrected (in this case, you are not asked to do anything except click on a link to a phony Web site).
- The e-mails contain a hyperlink leading to a phony AccèsD site.
- The e-mails are often signed with the name or the logo of a security division.
- Some of the e-mails contain attached files.
Desjardins will never contact you by e-mail for any of these reasons or with any of these elements. Desjardins does not solicit members for personal and confidential information by e-mail. If you receive an e-mail like this, do not answer.
If, on the other hand, you receive an e-mail you believe to be fraudulent, forward it to us at phishing@desjardins.com.
To find out more, see Online security.
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