HARRISBURG, Penn. - Machiavelli believed it's better to be feared than loved, but Pennsylvania State Employees CU knows that if you push the fear button too often, it starts to lose its impact.
That's why the $2.8-billion credit union has taken a humorous approach to increasing its members' awareness of fraud and security issues, creating Auntie Fraud's Diner to promote International Fraud Awareness Week.
"We felt if we present it in a jovial fashion, we might get through to our members better," said Tracey Bray, PSECU's director of loss prevention and security. "Most of the brochures on identity theft and other fraud instill that feat, and after a while, people become desensititzed to it."
So last Wednesday, PSECU teamed up with a local food court at the Strawberry Square Office & Retail Complex to open Auntie Fraud's Diner, where people could learn about ways to prevent fraud while they ate.
No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
"The loss prevention and security unit had talked about what message or theme we wanted to use this year, and we decided on the idea of there's no such thing as a free lunch," Bray explained. "When we took the idea to marketing, they ran with it."
In addition to creating a menu for the fictional Auntie Fraud's diner, PSCU gave Strawberry Square table tents to set out, as well as banners to hang.
International Fraud Awareness Week is sponsored by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and PSECU has several CFEs on staff.
Starting Out Internally
The first year the credit union decided to promote International Fraud Awareness Week, it was something it did internally only, focusing on educating its staff on fraud prevention, ethics, CU policies and procedures, etc. Employees were quizzed afterwards to determine what they had learned and retained.
The second year PSECU added an external component to the program, setting up tables in several of its lobbies where members could talk with fraud prevention specialists to learn how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud. Those specialists were both from PSECU staff as well as some U.S. Postal inspectors.
"We had a really good response to that," Bray said. "We have 500 people come through just one table, and that was with no advertising."
This year the credit union went all out, adding Strawberry Square-where one of its own branches is located-as a co-sponsor. The goal is to reach 1,500 people during the four-hour event.
And while last year saw the addition of several U.S. Postal inspectors, this year another six agencies are also joining in the program, Bray said.
Because PSECU designed and printed the creative in-house, the cost to sponsor the event is minimal, she noted. "For other credit unions interested in doing this, I'd say it's well worth it," Bray commented. "You get listed on the ACFE website as one of the sponsors, and ACFE provides you with materials."
Of course, fraud prevention is never a one-shot deal. That's why PSECU also has established Ethics Line, a tool that allows employees to report internal problems anonymously, as well as offering fraud counseling to members. Since January, PSECU has counseled 757 of its members who were concerned they might be the victims of some variant of financial fraud.
Reaching Out To Help Members
"Of the 757 over the past 12 months, approximately 50 members had some type of loss or fraudulent activity occur with another merchant, retail credit card, utility company, etc. when we talked to them," Bray reported. "They were true victims in that manner. The other 700 members were concerned about identity theft and wanted to know what precautions they could take. Some may have had a purse or wallet lost/stolen, or been notified that some of the personal information was compromised in one of the many database breaches that have occurred over the past year."
That kind of contact, as well as other efforts to raise fraud awareness, are well worth doing, she noted.
"Obviously promoting fraud awareness is a member benefit. It informs the member and aids them in protecting their hard-earned money. In addition to this is the benefit to the CU itself," Bray offered. "If the fraud awareness campaign prevents just one or two members from falling for a work at home scheme, foreign lottery scam, or other such counterfeit check fraud, the campaign will more than likely pay for itself in prevented losses and use of staff resources. Additionally, if an internal fraud is discovered because staff have the tools and understanding to identify employee fraud red flags, losses can be minimized and member equity preserved." (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
