Beware of Cyber Scams

Recently there has been a significant uptick in reports of members falling victim to cyber scams. These scams take place via email, phone calls and text messages. The fraudsters often pose as a trusted party such as your financial institution or a government official, in an effort to trick you into giving them sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, account information or installing malicious software on your personnel devices.

Cybercrime is becoming more serious every day, so we encourage you to be aware and stay vigilant to protect yourself.

Here are some quick tips to keep you safe: 

• Independently Verify Communications –  If you received a call, text or email that seems suspicious, call the organization directly to verify the communication is legitimate. Suspicious communications often attempt to create a sense of urgency by stating” fraudulent charges have been detected on your account”, or “we need to gain access to your computer to install a program to watch for signs of fraud on your account”. This is not how legitimate organizations contact consumers.
• Don’t Share Credentials, Ever – Never share your username or password, or other sensitive information through email, phone or text. 
• Don’t Click Links -Never click links in emails or text messages that seem suspicious. Some fraudsters will use links in emails and text messages to get people to click and add malware to their device, which allows the scammer to view important data on your device. If you see a suspicious email or text message, delete it. 

Attackers spend a considerable amount of time thinking of ways to appear legitimate, in hopes to dupe you into disclosing your sensitive data, usernames and passwords, account information or install malicious software.

Please remember that Northeast Credit Union will never contact you via emails, phone or text asking for sensitive information. If you receive a suspicious communication that appears to have come from us. do not interact with the communication and contact us directly at 888-436-1847 during business hours.