The Franklin Johnstown Federal Credit Union does not solicit personal/private information via email. If you receive such an email, do not open it. Delete it at once! Please notify the credit union if you receive an email asking for such information. Thank you!
Emails are being sent in the same of CUNA and NCUA. The CUNA phish uses a subject line: “Get your 50.00$ Reward Survey with Credit Union National Assocation.” The message includes the America’s Credit Unions brand logo. The text of the NCUA message is addressed to “Dear National Credit Union Administration Customer,” offers a survey with five easy questions, and a $50 credit to the recipient’s account. Neither CUNA nor NCUA are financial institutions; they don’t have consumer accounts. The recipient message asks the reciption to click on the link. There, the recipient is asked for financial information. You should not click on the links provided, and delete the email immediately.
Q: Increasingly, we’re hearing from some of our members that they’re receiving e-mails supposedly coming from NCUA and their so-called “NCUA Account Review Department” that asks for personal account verification information as part of a regular screening of activity in the FCU network. We realize this is some kind of phishing scam, but now that we know about it, what should we do next?
A: The attempted e-mail scam infecting your members’ e-mail inbox sounds a lot like the well-known Nigerian letter phishing fraud we’ve heard so much about the past few years. We all know that NCUA does not send e-mails to individual credit union members soliciting personal account information.
When your members or your credit union become aware of this type of e-mail fraud, report it as soon as possible by logging on to www.ncua.gov/phishing/phishing.htm. Then, forward the fraudulent phishing e-mail to NCUA at Phishing@ncua.gov.
Additionally, you can file formal complaints concerning any suspected fraudulent e-mail with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) at www.ic3.gov. The IFCC is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center.
“Ask the Fraud Rx-pert” is a bi-weekly feature in Highway, covering fraud-related issues. If you wish to submit a question or topic, please reply to frauddoctor@pcua.coop.
Use Caution when placing orders, either through the internet or by mail. Always read the fine print associated with the order. You may be agreeing to something that could end up costing you in the long run. Some items associated with this scam include agreeing to a health benefit program or a magazine subscription. These normally happen when you are paying with a credit or debit card. You realize you’ve been scammed when the charges show up on your monthly statement. Always review your statements carefully to be sure all charges are authorized.