Education - Fraud Alerts - Northeast Community Credit Union

Don’t Get Ripped Off If you read the newspaper or watch TV, then you’re already familiar with the terms ‘FRAUD’ and ‘SCAM’. Every day, we learn of more cases where intelligent and even cautious people are getting caught up in schemes aimed at stealing their identity or taking their money. If YOU can answer “YES” to any of the following questions, YOU could be involved in a FRAUD or about to be SCAMMED: Ø Have you been informed that you were the winner of a LOTTERY, such as Canadian, Australian, El Gordo, or El Mundo, that you did not enter? Ø Have you been instructed to WIRE, SEND, or SHIP MONEY, as soon as possible, to a large U.S. city or to another country, such as Canada, England, or Nigeria? Ø Have you been asked to PAY money to receive a deposit from another country such as Canada, England, or Nigeria? Ø Are you receiving PAY or a COMMISSION for ‘facilitating money transfers’ through your account? Ø Did you respond to an email requesting you to CONFIRM, UPDATE, or PROVIDE your account information? Ø	If you received a CHECK from an item you sold on the Internet, such as a car, boat, jewelry, etc. -- o Is the amount of the CHECK more than the item’s selling price? o Did you receive the CHECK via an overnight delivery service? o Is the CHECK connected to communicating with someone by email? o Is the CHECK drawn on a business or individual account that is different from the person buying your item or product? IF SO, REPORT IT TO THE FBI. Also, call us if your credit union account could be involved. We ask that you please be patient when depositing or cashing checks – due to the increase in fraud, we must often place holds on checks to allow enough time for check fraud to be detected. In addition to our responsibility to protect the financial interests of all our members, our insurance carrier demands certain precautionary steps be taken as a requirement for our fraud coverage. What it all comes down to is quite simple: if you have to pay money to get money, something is wrong. If something sounds too good to be true, it COULD be a SCAM!

Rescue Scams WARNING: If you own your home, beware of "rescue scams". The Department of Treasury has alerted the public to schemes involving mortgages. Most common is fraudulent companies contacting homeowners (by phone or mail), offering to help them 'work out' different payment arrangements so that they can 'afford their mortgage'. Many times, these companies will ask for up-front fees for this service, and claim to be associated with the government, or will instruct the homeowner not to contact a financial counselor or lawyer (giving supposedly good reasons for not doing so, of course).	The individuals perpetrating these schemes occasionally refer to themselves as "foreclosure specialists", claiming they help 'honest hardworking people avoid foreclosure by working out better payment terms'. Sometimes they pursue homeowners quite aggressively - trying to rush things through before anyone wises up. Consumers are advised to AVOID this kind of contact altogether.

Text Messages - Account Frozen ALERT: PLEASE DISMISS any text messages you receive that refer to a credit card or debit card 'problem'. Consumers have been getting messages on their cell phones saying their account is 'frozen', and telling them they need to call a certain number immediately to 'release their account'. Your credit union will NEVER send you a text message regarding your card or your accounts.	For your own safety, DO NOT open these fraudulent text messages, and PLEASE do not call the number they provide! These are simply attempts to cause you to call them back -- if they know they've broadcast to a valid cell phone number, they can see who it belongs to and possibly even steal your identity.