Advice & Education

Security Alerts

09/08/17:

Information regarding Equifax’s data breach:

Equifax has reported that a data breach at the company may have affected 143 million Americans, jeopardizing Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some credit card numbers as well as some driver’s license numbers.  The breach occurred from mid-May through July 2017. 

Equifax has set up a specific website to help consumers find out if their information has been exposed. The company says it is also sending notices in the mail to consumers whose credit card numbers and/or dispute documents were exposed.

In addition to the website, Equifax is also offering consumers the option to sign up for credit file monitoring and identity theft protection — as part of its TrustedID Premier offering — which includes:

• 3-bureau credit monitoring of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit reports;
• A copy of your credit report from the three major credit report bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion, Experian;
• The ability to lock and unlock your Equifax credit report without charge;
• Identity theft insurance;
• Web scan to monitor any use of your social security number.

The offer is completely free to U.S. consumers for one year.

The dedicated website also provides more information on ways consumers can protect their personal information, as well as ways to contact the company, including a dedicated call center that’s open seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. ET. That number is 866-447-7559.

The most effective way to protect yourself from identify theft is with a credit freeze. A credit freeze allows you to seal your credit reports and use a personal identification number (PIN) that only you know and can use to temporarily “thaw” your credit when legitimate applications for credit and services need to be processed. The added layer of security means that thieves can’t establish new credit in your name even if they are able to obtain your personal information.

Freezing your credit files has no impact whatsoever on your existing lines of credit, such as credit cards. You can continue to use them as you regularly would even when your credit is frozen. Click here for instructions on freezing your credit.

Tips to protect yourself from online scammers:

• Be wary of unexpected emails containing links or attachments: If you receive an unexpected email claiming to be from your bank or other company that has your personal information, don’t click on any of the links or attachments. It could be a scam. Instead, log in to your account separately to check for any new notices.
• Call the company directly: If you aren’t sure whether an email notice is legit, call the company directly about the information sent via email to find out if it is real and/or if there is any urgent information you should know about.
• If you do end up on a website that asks for your personal information, make sure it is a secure website, which will have “https” at the beginning (“s” indicates secure).
• Look out for grammar and spelling errors: Scam emails often contain typos and other errors — which is a big red flag that it probably didn’t come from a legitimate source.
• Never respond to a text message from a number you don’t recognize: This could also make any information stored in your phone vulnerable to hackers. Do some research to find out who and where the text came from.
• Don’t call back unknown numbers: If you get a missed call on your cell phone from a number you don’t recognize, don’t call it back.

05/30/17:
We would like make you aware of a recently discovered data breach at Docusign, the electronic signature vendor for LGE documents. So far, the breach seems to have only affected users who elected to create a Docusign account when prompted to sign documents electronically through Docusign. If you did create an account, your name and email address may have been compromised, making you vulnerable to phishing emails in attempts to gather more personal information. To combat this threat, we would like to remind you that LGE will never send you anything through Docusign without a prior conversation with a loan officer or member service representative. We also never ask you to verify any personal information by email.

Your financial well-being is always our top priority and your personal information entrusted to LGE was never exposed or compromised. Please visit Docusign’s website created for this breach for updates: https://trust.docusign.com/en-us/personal-safeguards/

01/17/17:
Download your mobile applications, particularly LGE Mobile apps, from Google and Apple only. Any other source is unauthorized, may compromise your device, and/or lead to fraud against your accounts.

12/20/16:
Ensure you are not using the same passwords for Online Banking that you would use with your email account at Yahoo. Yahoo recommended that its customers use Yahoo Account Key, an authentication tool that verifies a user’s identity using a mobile phone and eliminates the need to use a password on Yahoo altogether.

05/11/16:
Security Alert – Scammers push people to pay with iTunes gift cards. Visit the Federal Trade Commission's website for more information: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/scammers-push-people-pay-itunes-gift-cards?utm_source=govdelivery

03/10/16:
Is your mobile device secure? Click here to download tips for securing your mobile device.