New York Credit Union Foundation - News Release - ID Theft PSAs Unveiled & Workshop Held

(June 10 - Albany, NY) – To advance consumer awareness of identity theft the New York Credit Union Foundation recently unveiled a series of ten video PSAs 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.

Other components of the project included a webinar that introduced bi-lingual marketing materials to participating credit unions; statewide train-the-trainer sessions that have trained 89 individuals from 48 credit unions, 8 community organizations and 3 NYS legislative offices; and a series of 2-3 minute educational videos with Mindy A. Bockstein, chairperson and executive director, New York State Consumer Protection Board.

Topics covered via the campaign include: identity theft: what it is, how it occurs and minimizing risk; how to protect your social security number and computer; how to shop safely online, prevent skimming of information from debit/credit cards; recognize scams and frauds such as spamming, spoofing, phishing, pharming, etc., as well as what to do if you’re a victim.

The Foundation is providing the PSA’s 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 non-profit organizations.

Following the preview of the PSA’s, the Foundation partnered with the New York State Consumer Protection Board and the Credit Union Association of New York to present an ID theft workshop to the New York State legislature. The one-hour session, held at the Legislative Office Building, was hosted by Senate Consumer Protection Chair Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. (R-Long Island) and Assembly Consumer Affairs and Protection Chair Audrey I. Pheffer (D-Metropolitan). Both representatives addressed the audience of 22, as did Bockstein and Foundation Executive Director Diane LaVigna-Wixted.

New York State legislators are supportive of ID theft prevention, and for good reason. In 2006, a total of 16,452 New Yorkers had their identity stolen, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). That’s 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, Credit Union Association of New York and CUNA Mutual Group.

"Identity theft is not only devastating financially to the victim, it also has negative effects upon the victim’s credit union and all organizations that serve credit unions," said LaVigna-Wixted. "By working together on this initiative, we present a united front to credit union members and consumers, promote the credit union difference through financial education, and demonstrate the ‘people helping people’ philosophy."

Funding for this project is from a court-approved settlement of antitrust claims brought by the Office of the New York State Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission. The views and statements expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission.

Additional funding has been provided by Covera Card Solutions and a grant from the National Credit Union Foundation.

The New York Credit Union Foundation serves those who improve the financial literacy and independence of New Yorkers. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.nycuf.org.

Assemblyman Peter Rivera (D-Metropolitan); Mindy Bockstein, NYS Consumer Protection Board, and Assemblyman James Tedisco (R-Capital) (left) spoke about and then introduced the Foundation’s series of video PSA’s at a reception in Albany, which was attended by credit unionists and fellow legislators.

William J. Mellin, president/CEO, Credit Union Association of New York, talks with Mindy Bockstein, chairperson and executive director, NYS Consumer Protection Board, about their participation in and support of the New York Credit Union Foundation’s consumer ID fheft awareness campaign following the unveiling of the projects multi-lingual video PSA’s.