There has been a marked rise in incidents of online theft, both here and abroad, in which some unscrupulous individuals were able to access the accounts of bank depositors and make unauthorized fund transfers to their own accounts.

Based on the results of investigations of these incidents, the online thieves were able to obtain the passwords of the victims through these means:

1. Spyware. This is an attachment in an email which when you open installs a program in your computer that captures your log on ID and password.

2. Bogus Website. This is a fake website set up on the web which looks like the actual website of your bank. When you log on to this site and performs your transaction, it captures all the personal and financial data that you enter.

3. Public/Internet cafe terminals. Because no one actually monitors usage in an internet cafe, online thieves can easily install a spyware or a key logger on a computer that captures your log on ID and password when you use the terminal.

To safeguard yourself against online theft, please take the following precautions:

1. Change your password frequently.

2. Never open e-mails or attachments sent by someone you do not know

3. Avoid performing online transactions on public terminals such as those in internet cafes.

4. Install only software that you get from trusted sources.

5. Always check for the presence of a 'padlock' symbol on the login page; before proceeding double click on the padlok symbol to see if there is a UCPB certificate which would indicate that this is the authentic UCPB website. Do this when you're transacting in your other banks as well.

6. Never click on a UCPB link or URL sent by someone via e-mail.

7. Protect your PC with a virus-scanner and a personal firewall.

 ======================

(UCPB Customer Relations Center)

---