Attention ALL Members:
SC National Guard FCU will NEVER solicit personal/private information via e-mail!! If you get an e-mail that appears to be from SC National Guard FCU requesting private information, such as passwords, account numbers, and user id's, please DELETE it immediately.
IRS Phony E-mail and Telephone Scams
The Internal Revenue Service has issued an alert, warning that the IRS name and logo is being used by fraudsters attempting to access the taxpayer financial information through e-mail, telephone, and cell phone text messaging.
Note: The IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information via unsolicited e-mail, telephone calls, or text messaging.
The following scams are being used to trick taxpayers into divulging financial account information for fraudulent purposes:
- Taxpayers receive a phone calls telling them that they are eligible for a sizable rebate for filing their taxes early, and they are told to provide their financial account information for direct deposit.
- Taxpayers receive e-mails that claim they are eligible for a tax refund of a specific amount, and they are instructed to click on the link in the e-mail to access the refund claim form, which requires them to disclose financial account information.
- E-mail notifications addressed to individual taxpayers claim that their tax returns will be audited. The individual is instructed to click on the link within the e-mail and complete forms disclosing personal and financial account information.
- Businesses, accountants, and “Treasury” managers are receiving bogus e-mails regarding tax law changes. To obtain information on publications for businesses, estates taxes, excise taxes, exempt organizations, as well as IRAs and other retirement plans, the recipient is instructed to click on a series of links. The IRS suspects that clicking on these links downloads “malware” onto the recipient’s computer, which can be used to search for financial records and other private information.
- A person claiming to be an IRS employee telephones taxpayers to say the IRS has mailed them a check that has not been cashed. The caller then asks for verification of financial account information.
In a new twist to the ever popular IRS phishing scam, a credit union recently received an email purportedly from the IRS that contained an attachment (that probably contained a virus or attempt to gain information for ID theft, although thankfully the recipient didn't open it). The subject line of the email was "URGENT: Tax Avoidance Investigation XXX Federal Credit Union (Case id: #F12C36)" so it looked very official.
The contents went on to say that "the company you are affiliated to, XXX Federal Credit Union is participating in an illegal scheme to avoid paying taxes" and "The IRS has begun an investigation regarding your company's activities and your cooperation is needed" and so forth. It requested that the recipient open the attachment or click a link and fill in an investigation form.
Please be aware and very careful of opening ANY attachment on an email that you receive and don't know the sender or question the validity of the sender.
For more information on phishing scams and ID theft from the IRS go to www.irs.gov/newsroom and click on the Phishing and ID Theft link.
Debit cards too risky for online shopping
MADISON, Wis. (12/10/07)--Use the wrong payment method or the wrong piece of plastic when shopping online and someone you don't know could zero out your checking account balance in a matter of minutes.
It's a fact: The safest form of payment online is a credit card, although there still are risks, particularly if you don't know the reputation of the seller. But if you're a die-hard debit card user and insist on using it for online purchases, you're putting yourself at much greater risk than if you use a credit card for those same purchases.
Why? Because debit cards are regulated by the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, which is weaker than the law that regulates credit cards. What you need to remember has to do with liability:
- Credit card liability. Federal law protects you so your liability is no more than $50 (per card) if a crook uses your card fraudulently before you report the theft. Report the theft before the crook uses your card, and your liability is zero. Even if you're subject to the $50 liability, some issuers may waive that amount.
- Debit card liability. Here's where it gets sticky. If you report the theft within two business days, your liability is limited to $50, and again, some issuers may waive that amount. However, after two business days, your liability jumps to $500. And if you don't report the loss or theft within 60 days of receiving your statement, your liability is unlimited.
Bottom line: Don't use a debit card for online purchases. Use a credit card on sites of reputable sellers.
www.fakechecks.org
Finally there is an organization (National Consumers League – NCL) that is taking initiatives to inform and warn consumers about this issue.
It’s a great website. There are videos of actual victim’s stories…pretty sad. There are also videos of a guy attempting typical scams in person rather than on the Internet. It’s funny how when this is done in person, without the anonymity of the Internet, the scams seem much more evident. The website also has a way to report fraud. It appears it will be a database for law enforcement as a central source for information about these scams.
On the NCL website they have a brochure that could be provided to members that present questionable checks to help explain these scams.
CUNA also has some info in this News Now article.
