Members have alerted us recently that they have received calls and emails from suspicious sounding "credit unions" asking for credit card numbers and other personal information. These "fishy" credit unions may be a phishing scam intended to collect information through email and phone calls!

Phishing is a scam that is used to collect individual's credit card information, social security numbers and other information that could be used for identity theft or stealing money. This type of scamming has become more and more frequent, threatening users of many services, such as credit union members or online accounts such as PayPal. Phishing scams often use the "look and feel" of legitimate organizations to collect your information!

For your safety, credit unions and other services will not ask you for such personal information over the phone or through email.

Prevention Tips

• Stop and think before giving out your information. Is the information requested really necessary?
• Call the organization identified.
• Do not give out personal information to suspicious or unsolicited phone calls
• Do not send personal information to suspicious or unsolicited emails
• Check emails for the "reply-to" address! Often, phishing scams will appear to be from a legitimate email address but the "reply-to" may send information somewhere else.
• If you receive an email with a link asking for information, check the URL carefully! Phishing scams also tend to make a website that looks legitimate although the URL is not.
• Report anything suspicious to the appropriate authorities (credit union or other organization, government agency, etc)

For more information, read the National Credit Union Association's statement on phishing scams.