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Scam Alerts!
Protect Yourself from check, Internet and money order scams (posted 3/19/08)
There are a lot of scams out there designed to steal your money. The key to avoid becoming a scam victim is to recognize how a scam works and know the steps to take when you encounter a suspicious situation. Here are some website articles you can read to help you become more informed and therefore less likely to be scammed.
www.nclnet.org/news/2004/fake_check.htm
www.nclnet.org/news/2006/check_overpayment_scams_03232006.htm
www.fakechecks.org
www.fraud.org/tips/internet/fakecheck.htm
www.onguardonline.gov/crossborder.html
www.usps.com/missingmoneyorders/security.htm
Please also see our Loss Prevention Recommendations at the bottom for more helpful tips.
CUNA reports new phishing scam (posted 3/12/08)
The Credit Union National Association is reporting a new phishing scam claiming to help fight terrorism. The fraudsters' e-mail starts by suggesting that you can help the government fight terrorism and related money laundering by verifying your personal information. Then, they attempt to lead consumers to a counterfeit web site, via a link, designed to trick recipients into divulging financial data, such as credit card numbers, account user names, passwords and Social Security numbers.
This is a fraudulent phishing attempt. Always be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information and never use the link in such an e-mail.
Please see our Loss Prevention Recommendations at the bottom for more information on how you can protect yourself from scams and phishing.
NCUA reports e-mail phishing attempt (posted 2/25/08)
The National Credit Union Administration is reporting a new phishing attempt to obtain credit card numbers and expiration dates. It is being reported that the phishers send e-mail to credit union members and non-credit union members stating that the "National Credit Union Administration has temporarily suspended you account due to fraud attempts" The e-mail goes on to state "to reactivate your account call the toll free number provided". The e-mail is addressed as originating fro the NCUA Region 1 office in Albany, NY and has a phone number with an Albany area code of 518.
This is a scam. The NCUA never requests that credit union or non-credit union members provide this information. Anyone who receives an e-mail that purports to be from the NCUA and asks for an account number should consider this to be a fraudulent attempt to obtain personal account data for an illegal purposes and should not follow the instructions in the e-mail.
If you are affected by this scam, please forward the entire e-mail message to Phishing@ncua.gov. Additionally, formal complaints concerning any suspected fraudulent e-mails can be filed with the Internal Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) at www.ic3.gov. The IFCC is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center. Please also see our Loss Prevention Recommendations below for more helpful tips on how to avoid be in the victim of a scam.
IRS name used in phony e-mail and telephone scams (posted 2/13/08)
The Internal Revenue Service has issued an alert, warning that the IRS name and logo is being used by fraudsters attempting to access the taxpayer financial information through e-mail, telephone and cell phone text messaging.
The following scams are being used to trick taxpayers into divulging financial account information for fraudulent purposes:
- Taxpayers receive a phone call telling them that they are eligible for a sizable rebate for filing their taxes early, and they are told to provide their financial account information for direct deposit.
- Taxpayers receive e-mails that claim they are eligible for a tax refund of a specific amount, and they are instructed to click on the link in the e-mail to access the refund claim form, which requires them to disclose financial account information.
- E-mail notifications addressed to individual taxpayers claim that their tax returns will be audited. The individual is instructed to click on the link within the e-mail and complete forms disclosing personal and financial account information.
- Businesses, accountants, and "Treasury" managers are receiving bogus e-mails regarding tax law changes. To obtain information on publications for businesses, estate taxes, excises taxes, exempt organizations, as well as IRAs and other retirement plans, the recipient is instructed to click on a series of links. The IRS suspects that clicking on these links downloads "malware" onto the recipient's computer, which can be used to search for financial information records and other private information.
- A person claiming to be an IRS employee telephones taxpayers to say the IRS has mailed them a check that has not been cashed. The caller then asks for verification of financial account information.
Please note that the IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information via unsolicited e-mail, telephone calls, or text messaging.
Loss Prevention Recommendations:
- Do not open any attachments to the e-mail; they could contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
- Forward a questionable e-mail claiming to be from the IRS to phishing@irs.gov.
- Use instructions contained in an online article at www.irs.gov titles "How to Protect Yourself from Suspicious E-Mails or Phishing Schemes".
- Contact the IRS at 800-829-1040 to determine whether the IRS is trying to contact you about a tax refund.
- Remember that taxpayers do not have to complete a special form to obtain a refund.
- If you have received this, or a similar hoax, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.
- Please see our Loss Prevention Recommendations below for more helpful tips on how to avoid being the victim of fraud.
"Teacher of the year" scam (posted 2/12/08)
We are advising our members to be on the lookout for the following phishing scam:
Phishers are targeting nominees for "Teacher of the Year." The fraudsters tell the individual that they have been nominated by former students and then ask for personal information and Home Equity Line of Credit information.
THIS IS A SCAM! You should never provide your personal information to someone without verifying the legitimacy of the caller or e-mailer. Please see our Loss Prevention Recommendations below for more helpful ways to avoid being scammed.
America's Credit Union Scam (posted 1/8/08)
We are advising our members to be on the lookout for the following e-mail:
Dear FCU/CU account holder
This notice informs you that your CREDIT UNION bank has joined our AMERICA'S CREDIT UNION (NCU/FCU/CU) network. For both, ours and your security, we are asking you to activate an online account on our database.
It will then ask you to click on a link to activate your account and then inform you that you can use your online account 24 hours after activation. It concludes with a thank you from AMERICA'S CREDIT UNION review department.
THIS IS A SCAM! Town and County is not affiliated with any organization called AMERICA'S CREDIT UNION and you should under no circumstances follow the link and give out your vital, private information. Please see our Loss Prevention Recommendations below for more helpful way to avoid being scammed.
Loss Prevention Recommendations:
- Keep your operating system and web browser patched along with running an anti-virus system with up-to-date definitions
- Never click on the link provided in an e-mail you believe is fraudulent
- Do not open an attachment to an unsolicited e-mail unless you have verified the source
- Do not be intimidated by an e-mail or caller who suggests dire consequences of you do not immediately provide or verify information
- If you believe contact to be legitimate, go to the company's website by typing in the site address directly or using a page you have previously book marked, instead of a link provided in the e-mail.
Archived Scam Alerts:
JQB Bank Grant Scam-December 2007
Jury Duty Scam-July 2007
NCUA Phishing Scam-April 2007
Telephone-VoIP Phishing Scam-April 2007
TJX Merchant Security Breach-January 2007
CUNA Mutual Scam-November 2006
FDIC Phishing Alert-October 2006
FDIC Fraud Alert-September 2006
IRS Scam-August 2006
New Phisihing Twists-July 2006
Protect Yourself From Scams
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