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As more cyber attacks and data breaches make the news, you may wonder how this could affect you. Personal information falling into the hands of scammers can make you a target of increasingly sophisticated and convincing scams. If scammers are armed with personal information, it makes it easier for them to find and target you with personalised scam attempts. You may be experiencing an increased number of scam calls or messages, some of which may include your personal information to sound more legitimate. Examples of Scams: A text from scammers claiming to be a streaming service or subscription asking you to click a link to update your card details. A message claiming you have unpaid tolls or fines, urging you to click a link to make payment. "Hi, Mum" messages from scammers impersonating family members. These start as a casual conversation, telling you they have broken or lost their phone and asking you to remove their old number from your phone. They will generally converse casually before asking for money to help pay a bill or other urgent expense. It can be tempting to follow your first instinct, click a link to check an overdue fine, or send money to help a family member in need, but it's important to take a moment to think about the situation. Instead of clicking a potentially harmful link to update your card details, you could log into your streaming service through the official website and review your details there. You could also simply call your family member on their usual phone number to verify whether they have lost their phone. Protect yourself and stay informed. If you have any concerns that you may have received a suspicious call or text, clicked on a suspicious link, or provided your personal information to a scammer, please contact your local branch as soon as possible. As another layer of protection, GMCU has an internal fraud department and an external card and NPP monitoring team that will assist with monitoring any suspicious transactions. Our local team are here to help. If you have any questions relating to scams or fraud, or perhaps you have concerns, please call us or visit your local branch.

Australia has one of the strongest banking systems in the world. You can have confidence that all Australian banking institutions, credit unions, banks, and building societies must meet the strictest regulatory standards and protections designed to protect you. Credit unions, building societies, and mutual banks meet the same standards as banks under the Banking Act with rigorous oversight by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). APRA’s rules on safety and capital apply to all banks, building societies, and credit unions to the same high standards. APRA also administers the Financial Claims Scheme, an additional protection for deposits. The Financial Claims Scheme ensures that depositors with credit unions, banks, and building societies will be guaranteed repayment of their funds if any banking institution fails. Our team are here to help. If there’s anything we can assist with, from everyday banking to understanding financial protections, please reach out to us.