Internet Security

What is 'Phishing'?

Phishing refers to a person or a group of cyber-criminals who create an imitation or copy of an existing legitimate Web page to trick users into providing sensitive personal information. Responding to 'phishing' e-mails puts your accounts and identity at risk.

Large numbers of e-mail recipients are being 'spammed', even though the cyber criminals don't know whether or not the potential recipient even has a relationship with the financial institution or company that they are imitating. The cyber criminals take a chance at sending e-mails that appear legitimate with exact logos and web site colors, in an attempt to elicit a response from a recipient who may or may not be a customer or member of that financial institution.

What kind of personal information can be stolen with e-mail phishing scams?

Phishing cyber criminals solicit personal data, such as Personal Identification Numbers, passwords, card numbers and social security numbers, from unsuspecting victims. Then they sell this information to other criminals who use it for financial gain. To increase the number of responses to their e-mail scam, cyber criminals include upsetting or exciting statements in their e-mails; usually telling the victim that their account will be closed or put at risk if they do not respond to the e-mail. They want to catch the victim off-guard and hope that they respond quickly without thinking it through. To protect yourself, take time to examine the claims made in the e-mail. If you receive an e-mail from any one requesting sensitive personal information, check its authenticity by contacting the company that appears to be the originator of the e-mail. However, do not call any numbers on the e-mail, get the telephone number from the telephone book or another trusted source.

Please be assured that Firefighters Credit Union has not been directly effected by any phishing scams; however we want to make you aware of this type of criminal activity.

MEMBER ALERTS: While phishing e-mails can be quite sophisticated in appearance, there are some components of an e-mail that may indicate it is a scam to steal personal account information. Again, please know that Firefighters Credit Union will never e-mail you a request to verify your account number or social security number.

BEWARE IF YOU RECEIVE AN E-MAIL THAT DOES ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
- Asks you to provide personal information such as your credit union account number, an account password, credit card number, PIN, mother's maiden name, or Social Security number.
- Fails to address you by your name, or uses “Dear Customer” as a salutation.
- Fails to confirm the company does business with you, like referencing a partial account number.
- Warns that your account will be shut down unless you reconfirm your financial information.
- Warns that you have been the victim of fraud.
- Has spelling or grammatical errors.

MORE INFORMATION AND REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS

For more information about Internet Fraud, visit The Internet Crime Complaint Center web site.

If you want to learn more about phishing, or report an incident, here are some sources:
Anti Phishing
Cyber Crime
NCUA Fraud Hotline at 1-800-827-9650.
To file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, click here.

FORWARD SUSPICIOUS E-MAIL TO:
nophishing@cbb.bbb.org (Better Business Bureau)
spam@uce.gov (Federal Trade Commission)