Our client data is fiercely protected at all times, and – like most businesses – we are always on the look-out for ways to improve data security, even though we have never had a breach of any kind. Hackers keep getting smarter, so any organization that stores their clients’ personal information must always try to stay one step ahead.
Identity theft is not really a warranty-related topic but it is front-of-mind because Encompass itself was recently victimized. But, this is not a story of a hi-tech hack, just old-fashioned low-tech theft. The kind of identity theft that our clients could potentially suffer from too, if they aren’t vigilant.
Here is our story.
Encompass has a contract with Canada Post so that we can pay for our postage in bulk rather than using stamps. An identifier of that contract appears on each out-going envelope we use. No doubt, you see similar identifying marks on business envelopes every time you pick up your mail. The official name for this mark is an “indecia.”
Somewhere along the way, a fraudulent mailer came across one of our pre-printed envelopes and made their own copy of our indecia. They then used the fake indecia to avoid paying for postage for their mailing, which was of the “send money to a Nigerian Prince” variety. In other words, lowest of the low!
The only reason we discovered this had happened is that some of the fraudulent mail was undeliverable and ended up back with us (because they had hi-jacked our return address, in addition to the indecia). We avoided financial loss from the fraudulent use of our indecia but we will never know if or how much our reputation may have suffered when recipients of this garbage mail googled the address and made the link to Encompass.
So, our message to our clients is this. Please take precautions when you can and don’t make it easier for unscrupulous characters to get hold of your information. Here are some helpful tips from a few of Canada’s largest banks.
