Scam Alerts

Houston Federal Credit Union is relentless in our commitment to protect our members from attacks targeting personal information. For thousands of consumers, learning about phishing scams, identity theft, and other attacks targeting personal information comes too late. That’s why it’s a top priority for our members to be educated and to stay alert about these types of criminal activity.

Remember: Houston Federal Credit Union will NEVER contact you via email to request or verify personal information. If you receive a phishing email that uses the Houston Federal Credit Union logo, name, or website, please forward the email to talktous@houstonfcu.org immediately.

Phishing
Scams involving e-mails to consumers asking them to call a specific phone number in order to confirm personal information and secure their accounts have been around for many years. When consumers call the phone number, they are asked for personal information, that if given, can lead to theft of their accounts and possibly ruining their credit. If this sounds familiar to you, it should. Many of us have already been warned about a similar scam called phishing. Phishing is when the scam involves an e-mail requesting information from you about your accounts, and a link to the company’s web site is attached. When you click on the link, you are taken to an imitation site. Although it resembles the original web site it is really just a ploy to get consumer information.

Vishing
The new scam, vishing, is similar but different enough to confuse consumers into giving their information. It involves an e-mail sent to people about their accounts and giving them a phone number to call. These numbers are set up through a VoIP which is an Internet-based telecommunications service. Even though the phone number appears U.S. based or even local, the scammers are probably in other countries and nearly impossible to track down. This scam is working on some, because consumers have a tendency to be less guarded with their information when encountering a live person.

In addition, these identity thieves have added information to their e-mails to make them look more official or safe. They might list identity theft tips or links to the Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft prevention web site. Don’t let them trick you with this material. Financial institutions should never contact you to confirm your account information.

If you’re contacted by e-mail that there is a problem with your account, and you’re told to respond by e-mail or toll-free number, do not do it. Instead, contact the financial institution directly using a phone number listed on original account papers.

Learn more about phishing, vishing, and other scams by visiting StaySafeOnline.org.