Security Center

Protect Your Pocket: Fraud Awareness Week

Fraud is an issue that affects everyone, and CVF Credit Union is here to help you fight back. During International Fraud Awareness Week (November 17-23), we’re launching our Protect Your Pocket campaign to educate our members on how to spot, prevent, and respond to fraud.

Fraud can happen to anyone, but with the right tools and knowledge, you can stay one step ahead. Our Stop, Connect, Validate protocol is designed to guide you in making secure financial decisions and avoid common scams.

How CVF Credit Union Can Help You:

Fraud Education: Stay informed about the latest fraud schemes.
Support: Our team is here to help if you think you’ve been targeted.
Practical Solutions: Learn how to validate sources and keep your personal information safe.

Protect your finances. Protect your future. Let’s work together to #ProtectYourPocket.

Your security is our top priority, but you can help, too.

As you’ve heard, knowledge is a powerful defense against fraud and knowing what CVF will ask for – as well as what we will never ask for is an important first step in keeping your money safe. Fraudsters are always finding new ways to steal money. Common ways include impersonating your financial institution through phone calls, texts, and emails.

Current

Police departments have shared that they expect increased fraud and scam attempts on consumers. As Click on Detroit reported, some are even using AI. See their report here: https://ow.ly/6baX50Qc4Gr

Check Out These…

Phone Scams (Spoofing)

Phone scams, which are also known as spoofing, have been on the rise in recent years. Spoofing is when a scammer disguises their phone number to seem like they are calling from a trusted source, like your financial institution.

CVF will never call and ask you to provide your:

Full Social Security Number
The last 8 digits of card number
Card Personal Identification Number (PIN)
Digital Banking Username
Digital Banking Password

If you receive a call from CVF and have concerns it may be suspicious, please hang up and give us a call directly at 734.432.0212 and verify the call.

Gift Card Scam

Scammers love gift cards! They’re easy to get and nearly untraceable. Don’t fall victim for these common scams.

You’re contacted by the IRS, Social Security, or a utility company saying you are being charged penalties and must pay immediately with a gift card instead of a check of an online payment.
A “relative” texts or calls you saying they are in dire straits and need you to send them a gift card to save them.
A clergy member claims they are raising money for a cause. No need to send a check, just give them the numbers on the back of a gift card.
A resale or auction site offers you a discount if you pay with a gift card. You give them the number, but never see the item you purchased.

As a reminder, no legitimate business or organization will ask you to pay with a gift card. Report gift card scams at Reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Text and Email Scams

Scammers may also try to gain access to your information via text or email. These emails and texts will contain fraudulent links encouraging you to share personal information, like username, password, and other account details. These communications often look like legitimate emails or texts from companies you already do business with but have minor imperfections or irregularities.

Common signs of email or text scams include:

The text or email comes from a number or email address you don’t recognize.
The communication uses generic greetings, like “Dear Customer.”
There are misspelled words in the email or its URLs.
The email or text creates a sense of urgency to try to get you to take quick action.
The communication asks for sensitive information, like account or log in information.

If you receive a text or email from CVF and you are unsure if it is real, do not click on any links. Give us a call directly (734-432-0212) and verify the text message or email you have received is truly from us.

Charity scams

A charity scam is when a thief poses as a real charity or makes up the name of a charity that sounds real in order to get money from you.

These kinds of scams often increase during the holiday season as well as around natural disasters and emergencies, such as storms, wildfires, or earthquakes. Be careful when any charity calls to ask for donations, especially ones that suggest they’re following up on a donation pledge you don’t remember making.

Debt Settlement, Debt Relief Scams

Debt settlement or relief companies often promise to renegotiate, settle, or in some way change the terms of a person’s debt to a creditor or debt collector. Dealing with debt settlement companies, though, can be risky and could leave you even further in debt.

Mail Fraud

Mail fraud letters look real but the promises are fake. A common warning sign is a letter asking you to send money or personal information now in order to receive something of value later. Examples of mail fraud might include notices of prizes, sweepstakes winnings, vacations, and other offers to claim valuable items.

Money Transfer, Mobile Payment Services Fraud

Con artists use money transfers to steal people’s money. If someone you don’t know asks you to send money to them, it should be a red flag. Scammers also use mobile payment services to trick people into sending money or merchandise without holding up their end of the deal. For example, a scammer may sell you concert or sports tickets but then never actually give them to you. Or a scammer might purchase an item from you, appear to send a payment, and then cancel it before it reaches your bank account.

Using mobile payment services with family, friends, and others you know and trust is the safest way to protect your money. You should also be cautious when people you do know ask you to send them money. Before you send money, verify that they are the ones requesting it.

Federal Resources

See these additional resources to learn more about Scams and Fraud and how to report it.

Federal Trade Commission

Consumer Finance Protection Bureau

You Have The Power

There are a variety of ways to protect your accounts. Many of those tools are already available through Online/Mobile Banking. As a reminder, when you register for online banking, you will have anytime, anywhere access to your CVF accounts.

In fact, you can:

Monitor your account(s) regularly for unusual transactions.
Ensure your contact information is up-to-date so we can contact you directly in the event of suspicious activity.
Set up alerts to stay informed about activity on your accounts. You can set up alerts for when your cards are used and set transaction alerts for specific dollar amounts, merchant categories, or geographic locations.
Manage your debit and credit cards
Enable biometrics like facial recognition and fingerprint sign-on on our mobile app.
Sign up to receive eStatements, eAlerts, and eNotices to reduce the risk of identity theft from stolen paper documents.

Additional Recommendations, Added Security

Create strong passwords for a solid defense against hackers. An ideal password should be 12 or more characters and use a combination of special characters, numbers, and capital and lowercase letters. And do not use information easily available on social media—like a pet’s name or your birthday—as part of your password.
Always log out of Online/Mobile Banking when you are not using it. Do not save your login credentials on any public computer or leave a public computer unattended.
Sign-up for SavvyMoney for FREE access to your credit score within online banking.
Review your credit report annually from the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. In fact, visit annualcreditreport.com for a free copy of your credit report. You can request this free copy once every 12 months.
Shred important papers like statements and credit card offers before throwing them away.
Before entering your PIN at an ATM, look around for unusual items around the machine and shield the PIN pad before entering your information.
Keep your devices (phone, tablet, and computer) up to date with the latest browsers and operating systems.