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We
live in an amazing, connected world. An
event can occur half-way around the world
and not only will we know about it in a
few minutes, but we'll have live reports
and be able to see it as it happens.
Unfortunately, everything seems to have
a potentially dark side and that is also
true with computers, the internet and the
digital world in which we live.
Thieves
are using technology to attempt to steal
identities, access accounts, and even hoodwink
you into giving them the information they
need to earn their dishonest living.
With the wide-spread increase in consumer
fraud, we think it is important to have
a place you can go to find out about the
latest schemes to steal your identity or
illegally access your accounts.
On
this page, ISU Credit Union will post the latest
stories about fraud and identity theft and
provide you with links to learn more about
the topic. If you have something to
contribute to our page, let us know by emailing
it to us so we can share it with all of
our members.
10/30/08
The latest scam to steal your personal, non-published information uses the latest communications technology. Here is an email warning from CO-OP Financial Services, the provider of our ATM Network.
"CO-OP Financial Services has notified our credit unions in the past about email phishing scams and deceitful attempts to obtain cardholder information with the intent of committing fraudulent activity against member accounts. Multiple member credit unions have recently reported a phishing scam they are experiencing.
This fraudulent attempt to capture card numbers is done with an automated text message referring to themselves as CO-OP Services Credit Union Customer Services Department from a four digit phone number of 3693.
The text message indicates that the member’s credit or debit card has unusual activity on their account. In order to restore the member’s account access, the message asks the member to call 813.600.1551 and enter their 16-digit credit or debit card number along with three additional pieces of information that is linked to the member’s account.
CO-OP Financial Services would never refer to themselves as CO-OP Services Credit Union Customer Services Department, and would not send text messages to cardholders about their accounts. When our staff makes or receives calls from cardholders, we identify ourselves as the Card Member Security Department.
There are so many ways for perpetrators to attempt to get personal information, including the use of auto-dialers and text messages. It is important to remind members to limit the release of personal information in order to protect themselves from fraud.
Please contact Client Services at 800.782.9042, option 2, with any questions or concerns."
Vishing
is one of those invented techy words used
to describe a type of fraud using a telephone.
Here's a
quick description of how it works and
what you can do to protect yourself.
VoIP
Phishing is one of the latest scams
using phones to convince you to give out
financial information.
Even
doing your civic duty by serving
on a jury has been used to attempt to
acquire personal financial information.
Here is yet another phone scam that is very clever in the way the caller convinces you they are legitimate and gets the information they need to access your credit card.
March,2009-- Here is the text of the email message received by one member attempting to solicit personal financial information. Note that the word NetTeller is not spelled the way we spell Neteller.
Dear NetTeller Banking Customer,
This letter is addressed to you as your Bank provides NetTeller Banking Service.
Please notice that a new version of a NetTeller Confirmation Form has been released. This form synchronizes Customers’ data with its account entries on a central NetTeller banking server. Each NetTeller Banking user is required to fill in the NetTeller Confirmation Form.
Please, click the link below to access the NetTeller Confirmation Form.
In order to fill in the form correctly, please follow the instructions on the website.
http://cm.netteller.com/login2008/Authentication/Views/Form.aspx?fi=CONFIRMATIONFORM&burlid=5444510222965527652823324289024464249
NetTeller apologizes for the inconveniences caused to you, and is very grateful for your cooperation.
NetTeller Banking
February, 2009--Thieves are getting better at targeting current events and finding an angle to use to persuade you to reveal your personal, non-public information. Here is one using the promise of an economic stimulus package:
Identity thieves posing as representatives of the Internal Revenue Service are sending spam e-mails promising government economic stimulus packages. The message tells the user to download an attachment that is masked as a form they must fill out and send to the IRS to receive their check. However, the document really is an identity theft tool that steals the personal information entered in the form.
Another scam being used promises more information on how to get “economic stimulus grants.” They tempt users with fake testimonials such as, “I found the grant I needed and filled out the forms and sent them in, and in about two weeks I received a check in my hand for $100,000.” It leads to a marketing-type site in which you enter personal information such as salary range, e-mail address, mailing address, and date of birth purportedly to get a free CD that shows you how to claim one of these grants. To order the CD, you must enter credit card information for the postage and handling costs. You never get the CD—only a stolen identity.
Unfortunately, the threat of fraud due to phishing attempts continues to be very active. Fraudsters are increasing in sophistication, and this type of activity shows no sign of slowing down. In these economic times, it is even more critical to continue educating members on the various ways fraudsters try to obtain their personal information for financial gain.
April, 2008--Here's a new twist on an old scheme to assure you a fraud is legitimate by assuring you it isn't a scam. This time, they are operating under the auspices of the World Health Organization. The one consistency is terrible grammar and spelling.
Subject: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION®
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION®
Avenue: Appia 20, CH - 1211
Geneva 27, Switzerland
WHO Clearance Number: WHO1000909
FBI Clearance Number: FBI9001801
Attorney General's Clearance NO.: ATG64793.
Dear Winner,
A certified award check of (£6.5, million GB Pounds = $13,591,000 US Dollars) credited to file NO: M154S/WL04 leave the World Health Organization's Head Quarters for your address. It is important we know if you are prepared to received the parcel.So, you will be invited for dinner night on 28th August, 2008. The address to which this Email is attached is yours. Please reconfirm, and contact us via email with your personal details for references:
1.Full Names:
2.Address:
3.Nationality/Country:
4.Age/Date of Birth:
5.Marital status:
6.Occupation:
7.Phone/Fax:
8.Sex:
9.Email Address:
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
907 Strand Street, London WC2R 0QS
Dr. B. Sadasivan, Chairman.
Hon Barr. Duke Valentino Andrews, Awards officer.
Tel : Tell: +44-701-113-7452,
No personal information (such as your names, address or phone number) will be captured on visiting our Web page as your privacy is vitally important. The National Association of State and Provincial Lotteries recently alerted the World Health Organization of clearance number to cut down on the rate of scams. If you receive or have received check for Clearance number. They are usually 10 digits; three alphabetical and seven numerical number. You will find ours top left of this page.
NOTE: Please, be informed that the said W.H.O Award is not an open Award for the main time keep it cool and calm. Make sure this award is used to help the less privileged
Ellen Bowell,
Secretary/Co-ordinator
April, 2008--ISUCU members are reporting receipt of this email, telling them they have won a contest, but they must provide information to verify their identity to collect. This time, the scam gives some urgency by saying the link will only remain active for 10 days.
Dear CUNA Member,
You have been successfully selected at our random contest to win the 200$ prize as one of our Credit Union's member. To claim your prize you have to validate your Credit Union membership by completing our online form with just a click on the following link:
Click here to access our online form
This survey is valid within 2nd and 12th of April, 2008.
Thank you for your time!
Best regards,
CUNA Management Director,
William Trevor.
Copyright Credit Union National Association, 2008 |
October 31, 2007--ISU Credit Union members are being targeted with an email scam that claims to be from the Credit Union National Association, claiming to deactivate member's card accounts. The email urges recipients to call a phone number to verify personal information to have restrictions placed on their account removed. This email is a scam. Please report this email to local authorities and let us know. Here is a copy of the email received by one member.
November 1, 2007--Another scheme was received by an employee of ISU Credit Union today that claims to be an email from the NCUA, or National Credit Union Association, asking the recipient to activate an online account and provide a card number and PIN number. View email.
August 12, 2008--Here is a scam that says it is from the NCUA again, but this time as a rewards program for $300. Would that entice you to reveal your personal non-public information? Read more here.
Here's another
email that is very similar to the one above that claims to be from the NCUA
attempting to entice members to sign onto
a fraudulent web site to disclose their personal
financial information.
Another scheme attempts to gain credibility
by referencing the National Credit
Union Administration. In this one,
the perpetrators have sent out an email
warning about a fraudulent web site and
then encourage credit union members to visit
a web site that is itself fraudulent.
Here's
one
that uses the TJ Max security
breach and the NCUA name to scare charge
card holders into signing onto a phony web site
to update their information.
Increasingly,
scammers are relying on attempts to gain
credibility by posing in emails, phone calls
and letters as anti-scamming authorities.
Here's a story from
Snopes.com related by a person who received
a call from a scammer purporting to be from
VISA, monitoring a fraudulent scam company.
A
number of internet and email scams originate
in the African country of Nigeria.
Like most scams, they seem to be too good
to be true, and they turn out to exactly
that when the victim realizes they have
been taken. Here's an example of a
Nigerian
scam.
Here's
another variation
on the same theme. This time it
claims to be from an investment company
in the Channel Islands.
The latest scam received by one of our members uses a check drawn on the credit union for credit unions, Wescorp. It also urges the recipient to be aware of potential fraud in wiring the funds to the scamsters account.
Plain,
old-fashioned check counterfeiting is still
going on today and is getting harder to
catch because the scam artists are very
good at using today's computers and software
to duplicate checks. Here is a brief
description of two of the most
common schemes.
The internet can often quickly spread "urban
myth" stories but few stories gain such
rapid appeal with so many potentially negative
impacts on cardholder safety and confidence
as the misleading stories circulating the
internet regarding PIN reversal to signal
duress. PIN reversal technology is a concept
based upon the possibility that a cardholder
could remember (and reverse) his or her
PIN at an ATM to draw attention to a dangerous
situation like a kidnapping or a robbery.
Critics say that it is unlikely that anyone
under duress could successfully employ this
technique without compromising personal
safety.
Financial institutions within the United
States have not deployed this technique
despite several well circulated email chain
letters that have misstated this fact. ISU
FCU has never used this process at our ATM
locations. Don't be mislead by false
emails.
Even
romance is being used to scam people out
of money. Internet chat rooms
and web sites that attempt to match compatibilities
are sometimes used to encourage 'loans'
and outright gifts of money. Here's
a web site
that lists several types of romance scams.
Tips to members donating online:
- Ensure you are dealing with legitimate organizations.
- Contact these organizations on your own. Go to their Web site rather than clicking on a link in an email sent to you.
- Remember that legitimate organizations will not aggressively approach people for money and donations.
- Be mindful of groups reporting to be affiliated with legitimate organizations asking for donations or requesting you to visit their Web site. They may be fraudulent or hosting malicious code designed to steal personal financial information.
- Be wary of online auctions that claim to support the donation effort.
- Report suspicious Internet sites and emails to the government and for additional protection tips visit the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov or the Federal government's consumer information center at www.consumer.gov/Tech.htm
A
financial institution will never call you
to ask for credit card or account information.
They already have your information and don't
need to call you or send you an email or
letter to verify the information.
If someone is offering you free money, it
is probably really is too good to be true.
Balance is a business partner of ISU Credit Union
to help our members handle some of life's
bumps in the road. BALANCE offers
financial education and identity theft solutions
at their web site. Just click this
banner to be taken to the Identity Theft
section:

If
you experience a case of fraud involving
your ISU Credit Union accounts, we would like to
know so we can issue a warning to other
members and help you protect your accounts.
Call us immediately at 208 235-7100. |