As always, unsavory people will come up with new ways to get your personal information. One of the latest scams is to trick victims into providing them with online banking access passwords.
The scenario goes something like this:
A member gets a call or text pretending to be the credit union about questionable charges on their debit or credit card, or even account. The Fraudster has key pieces of information, such as, last four digits of the card number, who is on the account, SSN info, phone numbers, even address information. When the member says “no, those aren’t my charges”, the fraudster tells them they can assist with shutting the card down and stopping the charges. But first they just need to verify the member. This is where the Fraudster gets tricky, they ask the member to confirm their online banking user ID for member verification. There is no reason they need to know your online banking information, not your user ID or password. If the call was legitimate, the caller would already have all the necessary information to help you. If the member gives them this information, the Fraudster enters that and uses “FORGOT PASSWORD” so they can reset the password and take over the account. A code is then sent to your phone and the Fraudster then says something like, “I just sent you a code for verification, please read back the code.” The code is really the secure access code for the password change in online banking. From there, the fraudster controls the online banking account. They can begin to set up account to account transfers, etc.
If in doubt about a call your receive, hang up and call the institution directly using a number you know or look up yourself. The EEFCU will never ask for your online banking information to verify a transaction.
-GoWest Credit Union Asso. 10/27/23