Five Things You Must Know about Airport Security

Here are five things you must know about airport security; this list will help keep things in perspective next time you hear another outrage story, plus it may even help you have a quicker and easier security experience.

1. Airport Security Mistakes Happen.

TSA screeners are human; they will make mistakes. However, the vast majority of these men and women are simply following the rules they are bound by. If you don’t like the rules, and I for one think they could use a huge dose of common sense, take it out on the politicians, not the screeners. (Click on photos to enlarge)

2. Airport Security Mistakes are Few

Stories of outrage make news: when a former Miss USA described her pat-down as “molestation”, people paid attention. Still, in the United States alone, 2 million people get on planes every day; that’s almost three-quarters of a billion a year. The number of “outrages” is miniscule in comparison.

3. Know the Security Checkpoint Requirements

Passengers have security responsibilities too, and following them will speed your time in the line; know what you can and cannot bring through the security checkpoint. Forget arguing about it; you will not win.

4. Security Changes are Coming

By the end of 2011, the TSA hopes to have a “trusted traveler” program in place, or at least in testing-mode: participants who agree to background checks and interviews will supposedly breeze through security. According to the U.S. Travel Association, a majority of passengers say they’d pay for this service, up to $150 a year. Would you pay for quicker security?

5. Airport Security Will Never be Completely Hassle-Free

If you yearn for the good old days of zipping through the airport, forget it. We’ll never go back. The people behind 9/11 saw to that. All we can do is make the best of a difficult situation. Yes, report any outrages you see, but also do your part to make the security experience a smooth one for you and all the people in line behind you.

How to Get Your Messages Read

The first challenge in the 3 R’s – get your prospects to rip it open is one of the toughest. It’s no wonder. From the moment we wake up in the morning to the time we lay down to sleep, we’re bombarded with advertising messages.

The real question is, “How do you get past that so your message stands out from the rest?”

Get ready to see your sales explode with this unique dynamite tube. Just include your sales message inside and it's guaranteed to be included in the A-Pile of mail.

One strategy that we find to be very effective, and again we’re going on the assumption that you have a semi-qualified list, is lumpy mail. Lumpy mail is a term I use to describe mail that is unusual shape or size and makes you want to open it just to find out what it is. It will actually overcome the first of those main problems, which is just getting the stuff opened.

6 "Lumpy Mail" ideas to get your offer opened

There are so many fun and wonderful strategies that you can get it opened. One thing that you can do is, as we say, “Add a lump and get a bump in response.” You can actually make the carrier unusual. Here are six of my favorites:

1. Send your marketing in a mailing tube.

There are several different things you can do with a tube. You can make it like a dynamite stick and have a little wick sticking out with a message that says: Get ready to see your sales explode! We actually got a call from this right after 9/11. It was very funny. I was giving a seminar and it was a week and a-half after 9/11. This guy stood up and said, “I just used your stuff,” and 250 people turned to the back of the room. “I sent out a dynamite stick last week after 9/11.” Jon, I have to tell you, it’s the best response I’ve received in my life.”

2. Be creative. Mail a watermelon?

One of the lumpiest of all mailers that we sent, which got us quite a bit of attention, generated more than a 90% response rate. We sent a watermelon. We placed a clear envelope on the outside of the watermelon with a bunch of stamps and sent it. It’s expensive to mail, but I want to illustrate how you can be creative in direct marketing.

Think your message will get noticed if you sent it with a watermelon? You bet it will! If you would like to know more about this or any other creative Lumpy Mail idea give us a call toll-FREE at 800-805-1220.

3. Tie it to a balloon and watch your response rate soar.

We once did a mailing that got a 31% response for IBM. It was a pre-show mailer to sell exhibit spaces. One of the things that we sent was a box that was about 18 inches wide. When you open the box, a helium balloon rises up tied to a string and a package of Red Hots candy. (If you’re interested in doing this, check with us first. When balloons are shipped over the Rocky Mountains, all the helium deflates so we have two distribution centers on both sides of the Rockies to handle the shipments.)

4. Put your message in a bottle and send it out.

This mailing has generated 60% response rates. Just include your message in the bottle and you'll get noticed right away!

Another popular promotion is what we call, “Message in a Bottle.” The package looks like a wine bottle. The message is rolled up inside and attached to the cap so it can be pulled out easily by the prospect. The message begins by saying, “Don’t get left stranded…” or “Enclosed is your treasure map…” I’ve seen this get 60% response rates for seminar mailings.

5. A briefcase makes a terrific high-end package.

One client, Info Now that has products with an average sale of $100,000, actually sent a metal Halliburton briefcase to CIOs, CEOs and CFOs at Fortune 500 Companies. When you opened the briefcase, a laptop inside automatically started running a video presentation. Next to the laptop was a Nokia cell phone. At the end of the presentation, it said, “Press send.” The promotion generated a 55% response rate and of those, 50% converted to a sale.

6. Handwritten address with a live stamp ... simple, but effective!

Simply address the envelope with what looks like a handwritten address and add a commemorative stamp – not a bulk mail stamp. The problem with handwritten addresses is that they can be slow and expensive, but after nearly two years of searching we finally found software that looks just like the real thing! This is important because 83% of your prospects will open a hand-addressed envelope. Tip: don’t include a return address when you use a handwritten address. It will be intriguing enough that people will have to open it.

Automated Deposits Twice as Fast

Banks and credit unions continue to look for new ways to build their brands through improved customer service. NCR Corporation is seeing significant momentum from financial institutions around its new ATM technology that makes automated deposits twice as fast. You've likely heard (or written) about Wells Fargo and Chase's deployment of NCR's scalable deposit module -- but banks and CUs both large and small are turning to this technology.

NCR has already received orders for 7,000 ATMs with SDM in the U.S., and are in the process of rolling out this technology in other countries. NCR also announced today that many major ATM networks have completed their certification testing of SDM on their systems.

Another Cell Phone Scam

There's a number of solicitations making the rounds these days in an effort to obtain your cell phone number. These are scams and opens the door for viruses to attack your cell phone. Here's a good one. Pule is a friend of mine so I recognize his name, but as soon as the pop-up asked for my cell number, I canceled the transaction. It's fake.

BIG Phone Scam in the Works

What's the weakest link in your security? You are! When your phone rings don't believe anything you hear. That Microsoft employee you're talking to could be eating sardines and swigging vodka while he helps remove you from your money.

Evidently computer viruses and trojans are working so well, it seems scammers have enough time to launch a new form of attack. Getting up front and personal they are now attacking us through our phone. Posing as Microsoft tech support, they gain personal and financial information by instructing you, their victim, to setup and allow remote access under the guise of removing computer threats.

If people would only stop and think a minute they would realize that Microsoft doesn't know if their computer has a virus, and they certainly don't know their phone number. When everyone else is charging for even a moment of their time, do you think Microsoft is going to give you free trouble shooting by remote access. Obviously these crooks are counting on the most vulnerable in our society. They don't mind that 85% of the people they call hang up on them. It's the 15% that are paying their bills.

For you and I remote access is commonplace. We know how to do it and we know to be careful when allowing it. Some major companies use remote access now to help their customers with wireless connections and setting up home networks. For those less wary the offer of remote access seems genuine. Remote access is exciting, until they see their credit card bills. Then the fun is gone along with their money.

For now the scam is taking place in English speaking UK and North America. The scammers advise the victims that their computers are infected, show them bogus errors, direct them to a website, and walk them through making a purchase and installing tracking software. The average loss exceeds $800.00.

This has been a huge and surprisingly successful scam and Microsoft expects it to get even bigger and spread to other nations and languages.

Fortunately in my case, I hung up on the thief at the other end, but not everyone is that guarded. The Microsoft Trustworthy Computing Team did a survey of the involved area and discovered that out of 7000 people, more than 1,000 had received this type of call. Of the 1,000, 234 fell for the scam and followed the instructions. Of those, 184 actually lost money to the crooks. This means you have a 1 in 7 chance of being called. How do you like that for a phone campaign?

A problem this big requires that you be prepared ahead of time in order to avoid losing your hard earned cash. It requires only one rule and I'm putting it in bold below. Follow this one rule and all attempted phone scams are stopped dead.

Ohio CUs Hit by Debit Card Fraud Contain Losses on Own

Ohio Credit Union League spokesman Patrick Harris said the Northeast Ohio credit unions reportedly hit by a debit card fraud have managed to contain their fraud losses on their own.

According to police reports from the North Olmsted Police Department, criminals made fraudulent purchases from six accounts at the Cleveland-based, $311 million, Century Federal Credit Union, two accounts at the Cleveland-based, $180 million Firefighters Community Credit Union, two accounts at the Parma, Ohio-based $100 million PSE Credit Union, one account at the Cleveland-based, $36 million Steel Valley Federal Credit Union and one account at the Akron, Ohio-based, $180 million GenFed Credit Union.

Century’s president/CEO, Tony Coniglio, told Credit Union Times that approximately 200 accounts were hit at his 26,000-member credit union.

Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer newspaper listed two other credit unions that were hit by the breach: The $34 million First Class Credit Union Employees of Cleveland and the $98 million Best Reward Credit Union of suburban Walton Hills.

Best Reward President/CEO John Shirilla told Credit Union Times that there was no breach at his credit union.

Fraudsters reportedly made purchases using counterfeit debit cards containing stolen account information. Thieves are said to have stolen as much as $4,000 from a single account and the spending sprees reportedly took place at retailers across the U.S. and in several other countries

Are You Technology Driven?

Forrester Research notes that the Internet is now an integral part of a young person’s life (just as previous generations came to depend on the automobile and television). And just as cars and television triggered significant social shifts, Forrester suggests that what it calls the “Net-Powered Generation” will come to expect certain privileges as consumers.

Credit union application: Stop talking about technology products and start implementing them. These include live chat support, account to account transfer (outside your institution), text alerts/messaging, and mobile banking among others.

Credit Unions Increasing Membership and Deposits

Credit unions added 725,531 new members and $39 billion in new deposits during the 12 months ending March 2011.

SAN ANSELMO, Calif. (June 13, 2011) – A new analysis from Market Rates Insight (MRI, http://www.marketratesinsight.com/ ) reveals that credit unions have increased their membership base as well as their deposits volume during the 12 months ending March 2011.

Total membership increased from 90.2 million to 91.0 million – an increase of 725,531 new members at an average operating cost of $149 per new-member acquisition. The average membership per credit union increased from 12,035 to 12,475. The incremental increase in the average membership per credit union occurred despite a decrease in the total number of credit unions from 7,498 to 7,292 - a decrease of 206 institutions. The absolute increase in the average number of members per credit union was 439. The average same-store increase, which excludes mergers and acquisitions, in the number of members was 97 new members per credit union.

Total deposits (savings) at credit unions increased from $773 billion to $812 billion in the 12 months ending in March 2011 - an increase of $39 billion. The average deposits per member increased from $8,568 to $8,923 over the same time period - an increase of $355 per member. The greatest increases in deposits occurred in regular shares accounts (savings), which increased by $23 billion, followed by Money Market account up $15 billion and share drafts (checking) up $10 billion. The greatest decreased occurred in share certificates (CDs), which decreased by $12 during the 12 months ending March 2011.

“The credit union segment of the banking industry is very dynamic,” said Dan Geller, Ph.D. Executive Vice President at Market Rates Insight, “the increases in membership and in balance volume are an indication of broad appeal to and acceptance by the marketplace.”

Unique Travel Resource

If you want to retrieve just the best airfare for your upcoming travel, try Hipmunk (hipmunk.com) for a different visual approach. We think you will find this website interesting.

http://www.hipmunk.com/

Social Media

Portion of small businesses (50 employees or fewer) with company Facebook pages:

In 2009:  27%

In 2010:  41%

(Source – AT&T small business technology poll)

The Global Workplace

Segment of employees who say they are dissatisfied with their job:   58%

Segment of employees who plan to stay at their job:   70%

Custom Logos for Your CU

Some business owners maintain that it’s worth paying up to thousands of dollars for a global from a professional design firm. But if you don’t have that kind of budget, you can get one for less by holding a global contest. On sites such as 99designs and HatchWise, you describe what you are looking for, and designers submit entries over a few days. (Most contests receive from 20 to 100 submissions.)

You give constructive feedback and select a winner. At Hatchwise, it costs $29 to post a project, plus a prize of at least $100 for the winning designer. At 99designs, the cheapest global package is $295, which includes the winning designers prize. Typically, the larger your prize, the more design submissions you receive.

Taxpayer identity theft is soaring

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Larry Margasak, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Imagine filing your tax return and learning that someone else got your refund. With your name and Social Security number, no less.

The IRS is grappling with a nearly five-fold increase in taxpayer identity theft between 2008 and 2010, a Government Accountability Office official plans to tell a House hearing Thursday. There were 248,357 incidents in 2010, compared to 51,702 in 2008.

The GAO findings, obtained by The Associated Press, don't begin to describe the pain for a first-time victim, who must wait for a refund while the IRS sorts out which return is real and which is a fraud.

Many identity thieves don't get prosecuted, according James White, director of strategic issues for the GAO..

"IRS officials told us that IRS pursues criminal investigations of suspected identity thieves in only a small number of cases," White says in testimony prepared for a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee.

He said that in the 2010 fiscal year, the IRS criminal investigations division initiated just over 4,700 investigations of all types — far less than the identity theft cases alone.

"We want to know why this problem is apparently getting much worse," said Rep. Todd Platts, R-Pa., chairman of the subcommittee. "By bringing these issues to the public as quickly as possible, the committee hopes to give citizens the necessary information so they can protect themselves from such identity theft."

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, in his prepared statement, defended the criminal investigation record. He said his criminal division concentrates on schemes of national scope and added that 95 percent of those prosecuted for refund-related identity theft go to prison.

Tax identity thieves typically submit returns for refunds early in the filing season. The legitimate taxpayer usually files later, and only then learns from the IRS that two returns were filed using the same Social Security number.

Some thieves steal a name and Social Security number to obtain a job. The employer will report the thief's wage information to the IRS, as would the legitimate taxpayer's employer. The victim then would receive an unwelcome IRS notice that he or she failed to report everything that was earned. The victim would then need to work with the tax agency to sort things out.

Shulman said the IRS can significantly increase its protection after someone has been victimized the first time.

Tax form 14039, the IRS Identity Theft Affidavit, allows the agency to mark an account to identify future questionable activity. A task force of the IRS and other agencies established a website, STOPFRAUD.gov, which tells taxpayers what to do if they suspect identity fraud.

The main IRS website includes "Ten Things the IRS Wants You to Know About Identity Theft."

If the IRS receives multiple tax returns for the same individuals, the taxpayer usually must substantiate identity with a federal or state-issued identification such as a driver's license or passport — together with a copy of a police report or the IRS affidavit.

This past January, the IRS developed a pilot program designed to lessen delays for victims who deserve a refund.

Victims are issued an "identity protection personal identification number," which the IRS will use to process future returns. A new PIN will be issued each year the taxpayer's account has been marked for potential fraud.