Fraudsters are finding ways to lure members into disclosing their personal and financial information.  While the style and type of information is constantly evolving, there are phishing scams that continue to affect members.

These scammers need your personal and financial information to put money into their pockets – regardless if the money comes from your savings, checking or loan accounts. Time and again, scammers are successful in identifying and targeting the weakest link to enable this crime.

The credit union industry continues to communicate the various types of phishing (email), smishing (text message), vishing (landline), VoIP (internet phones) and mail letter phishing scams. These tactics are working because members continue to disclose their information.

The following are phishing techniques that fraudsters are using to capture members’ personal and financial information:

• Scam:  Social Networks
  • Members should be wary of clicking any links in emails or accessing social networking sites for holiday themes.  Holiday scams contain links that redirect members to an indirect site registered by the fraudster.
• Prevention: 
  • Members should close their browsers if they see a link to download or install an application.
• Scam:  Call Forwarding
  • Fraudster is call forwarding your landline or cell phone number to another telephone. In most cases, it’s a prepaid cell phone.
• Prevention:
  • Members should place a password on their telephone numbers to prevent them from being call forwarded.
• Scam: Text Messaging
  • Fraudster sends a text message (smishing) requesting personal information.
• Prevention:
  • Be alert when text messages appear on the cell phone, smart phone or PDA device. If the text message requests personal or financial information, contact the credit union immediately and do not respond to the text message.
• Scam: System Intrusions
  • Fraudsters are focused on phishing you to provide account numbers, passwords and user names to get into the home banking system.  

• Scam: Voice Vishing
  • This scam attempts to trick you into providing personal and financial information over the phone. Most vishing scams begin with an email or text message asking your member to call a toll-free number. When members call the number, they are led through a series of voice prompted menus that ask for key financial information such as a card or member account and the PIN.
• Prevention:
  • Do not call the telephone number. Rather, report this to the credit union and telecommunications carrier immediately. This number needs to be shut down to help prevent others from responding to the attack.
• Scam: Spoofing Caller ID
  • You receive a call from either a live person or a recorded message with a spoofed caller ID. The caller ID may list a legitimate looking telephone number. Fraudsters have spoofed caller ID systems or assign any area code to a phone number so it appears to be an 800 number or a local number.
• Prevention:
  • Never provide any personal or financial information to the caller.  Always hang up and contact the credit union to report this activity. Your credit union will not request personal or financial information from you via a telephone call.

Email, text message and phone calling are various forms of phishing. Fraudsters are asking for other types of information beyond card information to steal your money.