August 14, 2018
Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire personal information such as passwords and credit or debit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity such as a credit union, bank or credit card company.
Criminals will use an email, telephone messages (vishing) or text messages on cell phones (Short Message Service or smishing) to trick recipients into disclosing personal and financial data.
Some phishing attempts ask e-mail or text recipients to respond with personal information; and others include links to what appear to be familiar Web sites but are really spoofed copies. Once the user clicks on the link to the spoofed site, all future online activity gets funneled through the phisher’s system, giving him or her access to any account numbers and passwords the user enters online.
In vishing attacks, the criminal configures a dialer to call phone numbers in a given region or accesses a legitimate voice messaging company with a list of phone numbers stolen from a financial institution. A recording alerts the member that their credit or debit card has fraudulent activity or has been frozen and to call a phone number. When the number is called they are asked to enter a card number on the key pad, PIN, expiration date, SSN and date of birth. The vishers now have enough information to make fraudulent use of the card.
U-1st Community Federal Credit Union will never ask for your personal information via phone or email.