Visa/MasterCard Phishing Alert
We have been notified that customers of banks and credit unions have been receiving emails appearing to offer $50.00 to complete a survey from Visa and/or Mastercard. The email asks the receiver to click a link in the email that takes them to a site that requests the reader to input personal information.
Cell Phone and Text Vishing Alert
Recently other credit unions have had a number of members call in and say they received a call or text message on their cell phone stating that “their ATM or debit card has been blocked and they cannot do any transactions on it unless they press 1 to reactivate your card or to call back a toll free number”. If you press 1 or call back the toll free number, you are asked to input your sixteen digit card number and your PIN. DO NOT DO THIS. This is a scam to get your card numbers.
If you did receive this call and gave your card number by pressing 1 or calling back the toll free number, contact us immediately so we can protect your account.
Here is what is happening: When you get a call you may see that the call is coming from 1-843-884-6884, or you may see 347, 999-304 or some other unidentified number. The fraudster is spoofing that number which means he makes it look like the number that is calling you is a company. Actually they are calling from a different unknown number.
How did they get your cell number? They are doing something called “war dialing”. The fraudster starts with a local area code and a local exchange and randomly generates the last four digits to create a phone number to call or text. Then they take the batch of phone numbers they have compiled and send out mass calls. This is called a major vishing scheme and is affecting other financial institutions both locally and nationwide. For example: people who do not even have a debit card are receiving these calls or you may receive a call identifying a financial institution you don’t even do business with.
Note: Any call that asks you to input your PIN or card number is not a legitimate call. Niagara Falls Teachers' FCU will never ask you to input your card number and PIN via phone, text message or in an e mail.
Your Credit Union is constantly working to protect you and your accounts from these types of scams.
Email based NCUA Phishing Alert
Recently, there have been multiple e-mail fraud attempts, known as "Phishing”, that were initiated via e-mail sent to both the general public and to some credit union members that appeared to be from NCUA. This false email asked for the recipient to click on a link to verify their credit union account registration. If the recipient proceeded to do so, the link directed them to a false website and asked for their credit union account number and PIN, along with other personal information.
NCUA does not ask credit unions members for such personal information. Anyone who receives an email that purports to be from NCUA and asks for account information should consider it to be a fraudulent attempt to obtain their personal account data for an illegal purpose and should not follow the instructions in the email.
If you responded to such an email and provided any confidential account information, please notify your credit union immediately of the scheme. You should also change your account’s PIN, and take any additional action recommended by your credit union to protect your account.
If you feel that you have received a fraudulent phishing e-mail purportedly from NCUA please forward the entire email message to Phishing@ncua.gov
Additionally, you can file formal complaints concerning any suspected fraudulent email 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.
Official NFTFCU Policy
Niagara Falls Teachers' Federal Credit Union (NFTFCU) will NEVER ask for you to confirm any personal information using a link in an email. If you receive such a request please contact the credit union.
Don't Be Fooled
To insure you always access the official website of NFTFCU we suggest you manually type the URL (nftfcu.org) into your Internet Browser.
Free Credit Reports
A free copy of your credit report is available at no charge to New York State residents. The Federal Trade Commission has designated www.annualcreditreport.com as their only approved source. Never request a copy of your credit report from an email solicitation.
