Fraud, Scams and Swindles
E-mail Fraud (Phishing)
The United States Department of Treasury and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are aware of several e-mail schemes known as "phishing". Phishing is a "high-tech scam where e-mails are sent to consumers falsely claiming to be a legitimate company, in an attempt to obtain non-public personal information. The e-mails may claim the information is needed to assist in the fight against terrorism or some other purpose supposedly required by law."
Please note that neither the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) nor any federal financial agency as well as Thunder Bay Area Credit Union does not request personal information (account number, social security number, pin number) via e-mail.
Please Protect Yourself by Following These Guidelines
- If a member receives an e-mail that warns them, with little or no notice, that an account of theirs will be shut down unless they reconfirm their billing information, they should not reply or click on the link in the e-mail. Instead, they should contact the company cited in the e-mail directly using a telephone number or website address they know to be genuine.
- Members should avoid e-mailing personal and financial information. Before submitting financial information through a website, they should look for the "lock" icon on the browser's status bar. NCUA also suggests looking for "https" in the website address. Both of these indicators signal the information is secure during transmission.
- Members should review credit card and credit union account statements as soon as they receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If the statement is late by more than a couple of days, members should call the credit card company or credit union to confirm their billing address and account balances.
- Members should report suspicious activity to the FTC. Send the actual email to uce@ftc.gov. If you believe you have been a victim of a fraudulent scheme, file a complaint at www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC's Identity Theft website www.ftc.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from the identity theft.
Identity Theft
How can someone steal your identity? Identity theft occurs when someone steals your personal information such as your name, Social Security number, credit card number or other identifying information and uses it to commit fraud or other crimes.
No one from Thunder Bay Area Credit Union will ever call you and ask for your account number, Visa information or Pin numbers. Do not give out this information to anyone calling you. To protect your identity follow these tips:- Review all credit card activity and other financial statements regularly
- Never give out personal information over the phone, through the mail or over the internet unless you initiated the contact or know the person. This includes your social security, bank and credit card numbers
- Cancel any credit cards you do not use
- Do not carry your social security card with you
- Tear or shred any item with personal information on it before throwing it away
- If you are unsure about any transaction involving this information don't give it out. Let them know that you will get back with them after verifying that the contact is valid. Then look up the contact information from a phone book or other source.
- Visit the Federal Trade Commission on the web for more information.
We do Business in Accordance with the Federal Fair Housing Law and the Equal Housing Opportunity Act
