Alert!!!!
Scam to obtain your PIN number!!! Do not give your Personal Identification number out to ANYBODY over the phone or at any other time. No financial institution will EVER ask you for your PIN, so please keep this information confidential!

Fraud Notice! 

Recently, some members were contacted by persons who claimed to be a staff member of the credit union or an employee of a fraud prevention company. The members were either asked to give their debit card numbers and private pin number, or the credit union’s routing number and their account number. These persons, promised members gas cards and coupons, or to prevent the fraud from occurring on their account. In both cases neither person in question was a representative of the credit union.

Please remember:

·         The credit union does not call members and ask them to verify personal information for prizes or gifts, and does not outsource services to fraud prevention companies

·         If you receives a suspicious phone call, from an alleged credit union employee, fraud prevention company, or anyone else who claims to be a representative of the credit union, you should call the main office to confirm the validity of the phone call before revealing any information

·         Review your statements as soon as they receive them to check for unauthorized or fraudulent charges.

The following must be done in this case of fraudulent activity:

·         Notify the credit union immediately

·         If your debit card was compromised it must be captured

·         If your account was compromised it must be closed

·         The member must formally dispute any debit card charges that occurred

BEWARE!!!!! WEBSITES CONTAING TRIAL OFFERS FOR "WHITE TEETH, FACIAL PRODUCTS, ACAI CLEANSHING, ETC.

If Trial offer isn't cancelled within the period specified, your next installment of product will be mailed and your account charged anywhere from $70.00 to $90.00.

These are items contractually agreed to when ordering and you are the responsible party, as this is not fraud but failur to comply with the "find print". These companies usually request your debit card information because it is harder to dispute.

Phishing

Email users are being bombarded with authentic-looking messages that instruct them to provide sensitive personal information. It's called "phising." Individuals who "bite" are exposed to identity theft.

Phishing occurs when a consumer receives a deceptively-legitimate looking email from what appears to be a reputable company. The email asks recipients to update their credit card information or their account will be promptly terminated. Or the message offers a service to protect their credit cards from possible fraud.

Often "phishing" spam messages will use legitimate 'From:' email addresses, logos, and links to reputable businesses such as AOL, PayPal, Best Buy, Earthlink and eBay in the message. But the message instructs you to click on a web link that sends you to a fake website where you are asked to provide personal information to the scam artists. Such sites will ask for information such as your name, address, phone number, date of birth, Social Security number (SSN), and bank or credit card account number. Providing this kind of information can leave consumers at risk for identity theft.

Ironically, many such bogus emails prey upon consumers' fears of being exposed to fraud. They ask for updated credit card account information or other pieces of personal financial information and state that the consumer's account will be terminated in the near future if the information requested is not provided. The following includes some of the  tips that were offered in a recent CNN article:

• Don't trust e-mail headers, which can be forged easily.
   
• Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages. You can't know with certainty where the data will be sent and the information can make several stops on the way to the recipient.
   
• If you click on a link in an e-mail message from a company be aware that many scam artists are making forgeries of company's sites that look like the real thing.  Verify the legitimacy of a web address with the company directly before submitting your personal information.
   
• If you go to a link offered in an unsolicited e-mail, check to see if there is an 's' after the http in the address and a lock at the bottom of the screen that indicates the link is secure and encrypts data. Though this is not an indication that the site is legitimate, an online form that asks a consumer to submit sensitive personal information should always be encrypted. Scam artists are less likely to have encrypted forms, but if they are trying to elicit personal information, they may take every precaution to make consumers believe their site is secure and therefore, legitimate.

Consumers who receive an email that fits this description should:

• Contact the legitimate company named in the email to confirm whether the request is from them. Most companies do not ask customers to confirm personal information by sending an email.
   
• If you have provided your personal information in response to a phishing email, you should assume that you will become a victim of identity theft. Follow the steps indicated in our identity theft victims guide, Fact Sheet 17a. If you gave your SSN to the web site, you should place fraud alerts on your 3 credit reports. If you provided your bank account or credit card number, you should cancel that account and open a new one. For more information about how to protect yourself, see our Fact Sheet 17a Identity Theft: What to do if It Happens to You at www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm.
  

NCUA Express