Security and Fraud Awareness

Every day, people fall victim to scams. Some focus on obtaining your personal information – your account numbers, social security numbers, passwords, and personal identification numbers (PINs). While other scams target your financial accounts directly. Access to your personal information puts your identity and finances at risk, which can have serious, long-lasting effects on your future.

Scams often involve someone posing as your financial institution through an email, text message or phone call to trick you into providing them with your sensitive information, which they can use to commit fraud.

COVID-19 Related Scams

Unemployment Benefits Fraud: Imposters are filing claims for unemployment benefits, using the names and personal information of people who have not filed claims. Victims learn about the fraud when they get a notice from their state unemployment benefits office or their employer about their supposed application for benefits.

Economic Impact Payment (Stimulus Payment) Scams: Scammers targeting people through phone calls, texts, and emails requesting your social security number, bank account information, or government benefits debit card account number, claiming it is needed to direct deposit your stimulus payment. Don’t be fooled! The IRS won’t contact you by phone, email, text message, or social media with information about your stimulus payment, or to ask you for your Social Security number, bank account, or government benefits debit card account number. Anyone who does is a scammer phishing for your information. You don’t have to pay to get your stimulus money and the IRS won’t tell you to deposit your stimulus check then send them money back because they paid you more than they owed you – this is a fake check scam.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization Scams: Fake emails, texts, and social media posts, posing as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), or other government agencies claim to offer information about COVID-19. Such communications may claim to include prevention tips, promote awareness, and even include fake information about COVID-19 cases in the local area and they may even ask you to donate to victims, offering advice on unproven treatments, or contain malicious email attachments.

COVID-19 Testing, Treatment, and Tracking scams: Scammers are setting up sites selling fake at-home virus testing kits and are going door-to-door performing fake tests for payment. Other scams are selling fake cures, vaccines, and advice on unproven treatments for COVID-19. While other scams focus on creating and manipulating mobile apps designed to track the spread of COVID-19 to insert malware that will compromise users’ devices and steal personal information.

Social Security Benefit Suspension Scam: Social Security beneficiaries have received letters through the U.S. Mail stating their payments will be suspended or discontinued unless they call a phone number referenced in the letter. Scammers are then misleading beneficiaries into providing personal information or payment via retail gift cards, wire transfers, internet currency, or by mailing cash, to maintain regular benefit payments.  Remember, the Social Security Administration will never:

• threaten you with benefit suspension, arrest, or other legal action unless you pay a fine or fee,
• promise a benefit increase or other assistance in exchange for payment,
• ask for payment by retail gift card, cash wire transfer, internet currency, or prepaid debit card,
• demand secrecy from you in handling a Social Security-related problem, or
• send official letters or reports containing personally identifiable information via mail.

Other Common Scams

• Work-at-Home Scam: Mystery shopping, stuffing envelopes, payment processing to include payroll and accounts payable, purchasing supplies for your ‘new job’, sending advance pay for work not completed and being requested to send it back.

• Lottery Scam: You receive a letter or email indicating you won the lottery! However, you must send taxes or pay a fee up front in order to receive your winnings. In addition, they may be requesting personal information to perpetrate identity theft. Did you enter a sweepstakes or lottery? Did you enter one outside the United States?

• Inheritance Scam: You receive a letter or email indicating a relative has passed away and to receive your inheritance, you need to pay fees, taxes, or legal fees upfront. Another common inheritance scam is someone needing assistance moving their inheritance to the United States.

• Online Acquaintance Scam: Someone you met online and have become friends with, or an old acquaintance is now requesting your assistance. They could be asking you to cash a check or provide your login information to deposit checks or transfer funds into your checking account. They generally are asking for assistance in moving funds because they cannot receive the funds themselves. However, they seem to be able to receive the funds you send!

• Unexplained Check/Online Marketplace Scam: You receive a check in the mail you were not expecting, or the check is for more than you were expecting for the item you are selling. There is also a request to send funds back to the sender. Do not deposit the check! Let us review the check for you.

• Romance Scam: You meet someone online and begin an online romance. Soon after, they ask for money for an emergency, want to visit you, want you to cash a check for them, pay bills for them, etc. Ask yourself, why can this individual not pay their own bills? How have they been transacting prior? Are they military and you are being told you have to send funds for their return home?

• Emergency Scam: A relative contacts you stating they are having an emergency (medical, arrested, etc.) and he/she needs money right away. They address you as dad, grandma, uncle and you assume who is calling. They provide information on where to send funds right away! Where was the request to send funds to? An individual and not the hospital? Another state where your relative is not located? Call who you believe contacted you and ask if they are in need assistance.

One easy way to protect yourself is to NEVER send funds without doing your research and asking questions. Never give out your account number, account password, online banking login ID, social security number, secure access code, or PIN. Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is! 

Protect Your Information!

AAFCU will NEVER contact you to ask you for your account number, online banking ID, online banking password, PIN, secure access code, or social security number, and we will NEVER send you a link by text or email asking you for your account number, online banking password, secure access code or PIN.

If you receive an email or text requesting this information, do not click any links or respond, and if you receive a call requesting this information, hang up and notify us at 719.593.8600 or 800.223.1983 as soon as possible.

Here are additional ways to protect yourself:

• Never provide personal information. No legitimate company will call or email you to confirm your account or personal information.

• Hang up and call your financial institution directly with a known phone number to verify (or report) the suspicious activity. Scammers often use high pressure tactics to scare you into sharing information.

• Hang up on automated calls claiming to be the IRS, FBI, or local law enforcement.  If a message is left with a phone number to call, do not call the number back.

• Be cautious of emails asking you to click a link to verify account information. The company might be real, and you may have an account with them, but the email could be fraudulent. Contact the company directly using a phone number or website you know is valid.

• Use good passwords and PINs – and change them regularly!  Don’t use names and numbers that are easy to guess (birth date, house number, numbers in a sequence, etc.). Do not use one password for everything.

Mobile Security:

• Lock your phone with a unique pin number to keep anyone from accessing it if lost or stolen.

• Use a trusted password manager to help you manage the different passwords for each service you utilize. When possible, create unique usernames and strong password. A strong password should consist of a combination of lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers and special characters (i.e. @, &, !, etc.) Many password managers have browser add-ons and mobile apps. Remember to never share your login credentials.

• Use a paid Virtual Private Network service when on public WiFi or out and about.

• Use Two-Factor Authentication with important online services such as email and Financial Services.

• Uninstall Smartphone Apps you are no longer using.

Keeping Safe Online:

• Use a modern internet browser and keep it up to date.

• Use a trusted password manager to help you manage the different passwords for each service you utilize. When possible, create unique usernames and strong password. A strong password should consist of a combination of lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers and special characters (i.e. @, &, !, etc.) Many password managers have browser add-ons and mobile apps. Remember to never share your login credentials.

• Have anti-virus software installed and running on your computer. Allow your Anti-Virus software to scan your computer on a regular basis.

• Use Two-Factor Authentication with important online services.