Internet/E-Mail/Telephone Fraud
Alert
Recently, there have been multiple fraud
attempts being initiated via e-mail to both the general
public and to some credit union members that appear to be from
Michigan Educational Credit Union, another financial institution, or
our partners. This e-mail is NOT from Michigan Educational
Credit Union, another financial institution, or any of our partners.
As a reminder, Michigan Educational Credit Union or its partners will
never e-mail you to solicit any
personal information, account numbers or credit card numbers. Please disregard any such
e-mail that you
may receive.You can report this by sending an email to:
phishing-report@us-cert.gov
and alert@fdic.gov
If you responded to such an
e-mail and provided any confidential account information, please notify
your nearest Michigan Educational Credit Union office as soon as
possible.
Please be
on the look out for a new computer virus. If your computer is
infected, 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. Log out of Bill Payment and Home Banking and scan
your computer for viruses with current anti-virus software as soon as
possible.
If you’re in doubt about the validity of a screen, please call Member
service at 734-455-9200.
Phishing Warning
There have recently been several e-mails
circulating that are claiming to be from Michigan Educational Credit
Union that are fraudulent. Please remember that Michigan
Educational will never ask you to provide us any personal information
via e-mail. Any e-mail that appears to be from Michigan
Educational Credit Union that asks you to provide personal information
is fraudulent.
If you feel that you have
received a fraudulent phishing e-mail purportedly from Michigan
Educational Credit Union please forward the entire e-mail message to
phishing@michedcu.org
and also to
phishing-report@us-cert.gov
Michigan Educational Credit Union Security Commitment
At MECU, we're committed to protecting your privacy and security. We will
never initiate a request for sensitive information from you via email (ie.,
Social Security Number, Personal ID, Password, PIN or account number). We
strongly suggest that you do not share your Personal ID, Password, PIN or
account number with anyone, ever.
IMPORTANT! If you responded to such an e-mail and
provided any confidential account information, please notify
your nearest Michigan Educational Credit Union office
immediately of the scheme. You should also
change your account’s PIN, and take any additional action
recommended by the Credit Union to protect your account.
Email Fraud Update
The MECU name and logo have been used without our consent or knowledge
in "phishing" schemes to acquire sensitive information from
unsuspecting Web and email users. Receiving an email is a matter of
chance and does not mean that your data or our systems have been
compromised.
What Is "Phishing?"
"Phishing" refers to a person or a group of cyber-criminals who create
an imitation or copy of an existing legitimate Web page to trick users
into providing sensitive personal information. Responding to
"phishing" emails puts your accounts at risk.
Large numbers of recipients are being "spammed," without actual
knowledge of their banking affiliation. They request and collect email
addresses and other confidential information like financial account
numbers, IDs and passwords. The cyber-criminals have copied the logos
and the content styles of widely known and respected financial
institutions (including MECU) in an attempt to elicit a response from
a recipient who may or may not be a Member of that financial
institution.
Who Are Cyber-Criminals?
"Phishing" cyber-criminals solicit personal data from unsuspecting
victims via the Internet - like personal IDs, passwords, card numbers
and PINs - and sell this information to other criminals who use it for
financial gain. They can also access a customer's accounts through
online banking and set up false bill payments that send checks to the
criminal or a conspirator. In other cases, criminals transfer funds
from all available customer accounts, including credit cards, savings
accounts and home equity loans into their checking account. A copy of
the customer's credit card or check card is then used with their PIN
at ATMs around the world to withdraw cash from their checking account.
How Cyber-Criminals Operate
To increase the number of responses, cyber-criminals include upsetting
or exciting statements in their emails. They want people to react
immediately and respond with the desired information without thinking.
To protect yourself, take the time to examine the claims made in the
email. If you receive an email requesting sensitive information, check
its authenticity by contacting the company that appears to be the
originator of the email.
If you feel that you have
received a fraudulent phishing e-mail purportedly from
Michigan Educational Credit Union please forward the entire
e-mail message to phishing@michedcu.org
and also to phishing-report@us-cert.gov
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Telephone
Fraud Alert
Recently, there have been multiple fraud attempts
being initiated via telephone calls to both the general public and
to some credit union members that appear to be from Michigan
Educational Credit Union, another financial institution, or our partners. This telephone call is NOT
from Michigan Educational Credit Union, another financial
institution, or any of our partners. As a
reminder, Michigan Educational Credit Union and its partners will
never call you to solicit any credit line increases or ask for any
personal information. Please disregard any such phone call that you
may receive.
If you responded to such a telephone call and
provided any confidential account information, please notify your
nearest Michigan Educational Credit Union office immediately.
Sweepstakes/Lottery Scam
Individuals throughout
the country and world have been, and continue to be contacted by mail
indicating that they have just won a sweepstakes. Enclosed in
the letter received is a check representing part of their winnings.
They are then instructed to call a phone number for instructions.
These instructions will direct them to deposit the check at their
banking institution then withdraw a portion of it which should be
wired to the location given to cover the tax liability. The
check, of course, is fraudulent and the individual subsequently will
suffer the loss when the check is returned for non payment.
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