ALBANY, N.Y. -- The New York Credit Union Foundation is doing its part to help local consumers in the identity theft fight.
The foundation has recently unveiled a series of 10 video public service announcements that are part of a statewide educational and consumer awareness campaign, Who are You? Identity Thieves Really Want to Know!
The 15-second PSAs were produced in both English and Spanish and feature Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera (D-Metropolitan), Assemblyman James N. Tedisco (R-Capital) and a diverse group of credit union leaders and members.
The project included a Webinar to introduce bilingual marketing materials to participating credit unions; statewide train-the-trainer sessions; and a series of two- to three-minute educational videos with Mindy A. Bockstein, chairperson and executive director of the New York State Consumer Protection Board.
Campaign topics range from identity theft: what it is, how it occurs and minimizing risk and how to protect your social security number and computer; to how to shop safely online, prevent skimming of information from debit and credit cards; how to recognize scams and frauds such as spamming, spoofing, phishing, pharming, as well as what to do if you're a victim.
The foundation is providing the PSAs and educational videos to credit unions for Web streaming and use in their lobbies. To help promote the project, credit unions have also received Web copy, a sample press release and a sample newsletter article.
The primary target for the consumer awareness campaign is New York's 4.2 million credit union members. A secondary target population will draw from other nonprofit organizations.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2006 a total of 16,452 New Yorkers had their identities stolen, representing an average of 45 identity thefts each day, making New York State the eighth-highest ranking state in the nation for ID theft incidence.
Who are You? Identity Thieves Really Want to Know! is a collaborative project of the New York Credit Union Foundation, the Credit Union Association of New York and the CUNA Mutual Group.
--mdigiovanni@cutimes.com
