Current Alerts
NCUA FRAUD EMAIL PHISHING - May 26, 2010
NEW EMPLOYMENT SCAMS - February 2, 2010
MOBILE PHONE SCAM ALERT - January 22, 2010
EMAIL PHISHING ALERT: October 23rd
EMAIL PHISHING ALERT: September 29th
DIGITAL INSIGHT - Phishing Scam
NCUA ALERT Text Message Scam
ALERT-CUNA TARGET OF NEW CARD-ACTIVATION PHISH ATTEMPT
Fake Check Scam Educational Website
Don't Fall Victim to a "Vishing" Scam
New Computer Virus May Prompt Online Fraud Attempt
Click here for information regarding Online Security and Privacy!
The latest trend by scammers attempting to steal your personal information involves sending you an automated telephone message on your mobile phone. The message states that there is a problem with your debit/credit card and requests that you respond by calling a certain telephone number and leaving a message with your debit/credit card number or by texting a reply with your debit/credit card information.
Do not fall victim to this scam! Southern Mass Credit Union would never ask you for your card number by telephone, automated message or by email. Never give out personal confidential information such as your Social Security Number, account number, credit/debit card number, expiration dates, PIN numbers or passwords to anyone.
Email Phishing Alert: October 23rd
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT - PHISHING SCAMS!
Recently local residents have received fraudulent emails that look as if they are from a financial institution. These emails are NOT from any financial institution but are "Phishing Scams" designed to get your personal account information.
These emails have been in several form including the following:
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Surveys with a cash reward in you enter your personal information,
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Implications that your account is in jeopardy of being closed unless you enter your personal information,
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A notice that we are updating our security enhancements, so please enter your personal information,
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Plus, many other schemes to entice people to enter their personal and confidential information.
ALL OF THESE EMAILS ARE FRAUDULENT!
As a reminder if you should ever receive one of these emails, DO NOT RESPOND.
Southern Mass Credit Union would NEVER send you an email requesting your personal information. If you would ever receive an email that looks like it is from Southern Mass Credit Union, DO NOT RESPOND and call us immediately at 508-994-9971 to report it to our IT Department.
Email Phishing Alert: September 29th Digital Insight
We have become aware of a new phishing scam that appears to be from official Digital Insight sources or from financial institutions. The scam is designed to trick recipients into clicking a link in the fraudulent email for the purpose of acquiring sensitive data such as passwords or financial information.
The most common examples include the following:
Subject: Attention-Important Customer Information
Body: As a [Name of financial institution] customer, your privacy and security is a primary task for us. We have been dedicated to customer safety and protection and our mission remains as strong as ever. We inform you that your Net Banking account is about to expire. It is strongly recommended to updated it immediately. Update form is located here: [LINK]
Please note the following:
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Digital Insight systems or Southern Mass Credit Union would never ask you for your sensitive account or password information.
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Recipients of these emails are not specific to DI financial institutions end users or Southern Mass Credit Union. Phishing emails can be sent to anyone who has am email address on the internet.
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Do not click the link if you receive one of these emails.
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Some of the false email address that have been reported include:
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customer-support@digital insight.com"
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admin@support.digitalinsight.com
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admin-support@digitalinsight.com
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customer-care@digitalinsight.com
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accounts@digitalinsight.com
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support@update.digitalinsight.com
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administration@digitalinsight.com
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Scam fraudsters are setting up what looks like new employment opportunities on the Internet by hiring work-at-home employees. The newly hired person is being used to transfer money through their personal credit union account and losses are occurring.
How the scam works is the hiring company deposits money into the newly hired employee's account as an ACH transaction. Then the employee is asked to withdraw part or all of the funds and wire the money to the hiring company's "business partners." Most transactions occur in amounts less than $10,000.
Be wary of these types of work-at-home scams. When possible, contact the Better Business Bureau to check out the legitimacy of a new employer and never use your personal bank or credit union account to deposit/withdraw funds for anyone else.
For more employment scam information, go to FakeChecks.org, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the 'view our ecard' box and follow the prompt to view the short video.
DIGITAL INSIGHT - PHISHING SCAM
Digital Insight, out website host, has informed Southern Mass Credit Union, along with other financial institutions about an email phishing scam going on. This scam targets users by sending emails that appear to be from an official Digital Insight source (for example, "Digital Insight Customer Care," "Digital Insight Administration," etc), and is designed to trick the recipient into clicking a link in the email for the purpose of acquiring sensative data, such as passwords or financial information.
Please be advised: NEVER click links or install programs suggested in emails, even if the email appears to be from an official or familiar source. Digital Insight & Southern Mass Credit Union will NEVER send client emails containing links to download software or applications.
Here is an example of a Phishing Email:
From: " customer-care@digitalinsight.com" administration@digitalInsight.com
Date: July 16, 2008
To: <name>
Subject: Attention - Important Notification!
Dear Administrator,
We inform you that your account is about to expire. It is strongly recommended to update it immediately. Update for is located here. However, failure to confirm your records may result in account suspension
The email described above is not from Digital Insight. Please delete emails such as these immediately, and be careful not to take the actions requested.
The purpose of this fraud alert is to inform you of a scam that involves unsolicited text messages sent to cell phones. The message urges the recipients to call a number provided for information about account discrepancies and then solicits individual account information and pin numbers.
Cell phone users should be weary of unsolicited text messages. Such messages should be deleted and all deleted text messages should be removed, if possible, as the perpetrators have been known to use Spyware in conjunction with their text messaging solicitation. Such a scam could be used to obtain personally identifiable information and credit union account access information, for those who access their accounts using their cell phones. In order to avoid potential identity theft, if you receive one of these text messages, do not respond in any manner to it.
ALERT-CUNA TARGET OF NEW CARD-ACTIVATION PHISH ATTEMPT
CUNA is being used as the subject of a phishing message targeting our credit union members to collect personal account information, plastic card numbers, and passwords. If you should receive the e-mail do not to click on the link to the fake web page, just delete the message.
This new phishing-scam attempt using the Credit Union National Association's name, informs recipients about "irregular check card activity" and advises you to call a toll-free number to get any restrictions removed. Do not call the toll free number; the call is a ploy to get personal account information, possibly for identity theft purposes.
As a trade association for U.S. credit unions, CUNA does not maintain any type of member financial information and would never request any personal identification information over the phone.
Anyone responding to any e-mails of this type should contact the Credit Union immediately.
We have learned of a new website that has important educational information on FAKE CHECK SCAMS of which you should be aware and should always AVOID. NEVER BECOME A VICTIM OF THESE SCAMS.
The website is as follows: Fake Check Scam Educational Website Link
Don't Fall Victim to a "Vishing" Scam
We have become aware of a nationwide trend by scammers to attempt another method of stealing your personal financial information through what is known as “ Vishing.”
What’s Vishing? Well it’s a scam that attempts to solicit personal financial information through the use of automated telephone calls which is very similar to phishing, which uses e-mails to try to obtain your personal financial information.
In these automated calls, the message states that it is your financial institution calling and requesting you to either call a certain telephone number and/or visit a certain website to enter and/or verify your personal financial information. NEVER FALL VICTIM TO ONE OF THESE SCAMS; SOUTHERN MASS CREDIT UNION WOULD NEVER DO THIS.
As a reminder Southern Mass Credit Union would never ask you by phone in an automated message or live telephone call or by email for your personal financial information. Never give out confidential information, such as your Social Security number, account number, credit card numbers, debit/ATM card numbers, expiration dates, and PIN numbers or passwords to anyone.
New Computer Virus May Prompt Online Fraud Attempt
Please be on the look out for a new computer virus that may be on your computer. This virus may cause a fraudulent screen to appear in the online Bill Payment window. The screen posts messages that attempt to trick you into providing sensitive information such as your account numbers and passwords - information the bill payment system already knows and you should not provide again.
If you are using online Bill Payment and a new screen appears out of context asking you to provide sensitive information, do not provide this information.
If you're in doubt about the validity of a screen, please call the credit union at (508)994-9971 or toll free at (888)345-7689 and ask for Bill Payment Support.
