Security Policy

Identity thieves often charge purchases to victims’ accounts and may also open new accounts under their victims’ names. Some thieves obtain official identification, such as passports or driving licenses or obtain benefits in victims’ names. In severe cases, identity thieves may also commit other crimes under their victims’ identities, leading to serious legal problems for victims.

There is some good advice for both consumers and businesses on the Identity Theft website on keeping your personal data and documents safe as well as how to protect the identity of relatives who have passed away.

Common Scams
The majority of fraudulent activity is based around the premise of gaining your trust so you reveal your personal information.

Online scams include being the recipient of a lottery win, without taking part, or being asked by email to facilitate the movement of large amounts of money between two separate accounts and being paid a percentage of the total for doing so. Telephone scams can be variations of these sort of scams.

This is some good advice on the Bank Safe Online website on how to use online banking services securely and with confidence as well as the latest advice on common fraudulent scams.

Steps you can take to protect yourself
To help prevent against becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud you can follow these tips to ensure that you manage your personal information safely:
1. Never disclose passwords or login credentials in response to unsolicited emails.
2. Only divulge account details in a phone transaction when you have instigated the call and are familiar with the vendor.
3. Ensure that your PC has up to date anti-virus software with a firewall.
4. Use websites that use the HTTPS protocol and displays a padlock to make secure purchases and transactions.
5. Never cut and paste or click on a link within an email. Instead manually type the address into the browser. Pasting a URL into a browser is not considered good practice. A URL can be created to look like a genuine link, but could have been crafted to take the user to a malicious site. This is especially true when you can’t see the full URL address.
6. Think about shredding (preferably cross shredding) old bank statements and utility bills etc. so that they cannot be recovered and read.
7. Take a moment to read through the recommended websites below for more guidance and advice:

• http://identitytheft.org.uk/
• http://www.financialfraudaction.org.uk/
• http://actionfraud.org.uk/
• http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/

There is some good advice on the Get Safe Online website for both consumers and businesses on protecting yourself and your computer when using the internet.

We take your security very seriously – which is why we use the latest technology to ensure your details stay safe.

All online transactions are secured using a verified and signed digital certificate using SSL and encrypted web traffic using HTTPS and our web servers are located in a secure data centre.

Encryption technology
Tower leasing uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption to protect all network traffic between your PC and our systems. This scrambles any information passed between us and you so it can’t be read or understood by anyone else. All information travelling to and from our website is safe against interception by third parties who might otherwise use that information without your consent.

We only use online security certificates issued by GlobalSign, so you can verify our website is genuine. A valid security certificate is a way of verifying the identity of a person or resource on the Internet.

Firewall protection
We use firewalls to restrict access to our systems. We also make routine checks to make sure your information is protected from unauthorised access.

Secure login
Your account can only be accessed by entering your unique user name, and password.

Please ensure you keep the security details you use to access our TowerExtra portal safe. If you have forgotten, your security details contact your Account Manager.

System time-out
If you leave your screen inactive for more than ten minutes, you’ll be automatically logged out of your account. It’s best to log off whenever you leave your computer but this automatic time-out gives you added protection.

Report a Problem
If you have noticed any suspicious activity on your account, reporting any suspicious activity is the first action you should take. Please contact us immediately:

• Telephone number 01753 837050. Monday to Thursday 9:00am to 5:30pm, Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm; or
• Email at office@towerleasing.co.uk

Suspicious email?
If you receive an email or fax asking for any personal or security information please don’t reply as it is likely to be fraudulent. Please don’t click on any links or open any attachments. Instead, forward it to office@towerleasing.co.uk and then delete it. This information will be used to help reduce fraud.