Avoidng Online Thieves
As you may have heard, the scam is called "phishing". A thief sends out an email which looks just like it came from your company or an enterprise with which you are familiar. It may include your company's name, logo, and even wording from your company's website. It also includes a convincing message explaining why you need to log in and verify your account information. Don't do it!
This email is a fake, meant to lure you to a website that doesn't belong to your company at all. It is simply a vehicle used by the thief to steal personal identifying information about you. Identifying information is any information that can be used to identify you, including your user name, password, debit and credit card numbers, and account number.
If you fall into the trap and enter your login name and password on this fake webpage, the thief will be able to use your login information and make transactions on your account! If you know how to identify a phishing attack email, you won't fall into the trap and your money will stay safe. The attacker can't get your identifying information through a phishing email unless you give it to them.
What do I look for?
Be aware of any email that asks you to log in to your account, verify your account, or provide any other identity information. Be wary no matter what reason is given, and no matter how convincing the email may be.
Follow these simple rules to stay safe:
- Don't click on any links within an email asking you to access your account or to verify PIN numbers, passwords, or other sensitive information.
- If you get an email that appears to be from your financial institution asking you to log in or for other information, immediately contact your member services group and report the incident. Be prepared to forward a copy of the message to them for review if requested to do so.
- If you or someone in your family mistakenly follows a link and provides sensitive information, immediately call your financial institution so they can monitor your account or change your account number.
- Remember, the thief copies text and images from banking websites to make the emails look authentic and fool people into divulging sensitive information.
- Never give out your personal or account login information after following a link from an email, even as "identity verification" for a contest. Attackers frequently use such tactics to lure you into giving up identifying information.
This information is provided by Digital Defense, Inc., NE PA Credit Union’s online security education partner. Get more online security education at www.nepafcu.org/about/other-services.
