NCUA Warns Consumers about “National Credit Union” Phishing Scam
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (March 17, 2015) – The National Credit Union Administration has received reports of an online phishing scam that uses a website with a logo and a design similar to the agency’s own site in an attempt to convince unwary customers to provide information or send money.
Consumers have received emails from the National Credit Union website, which apparently originates in Australia and claims to offer services in the United States, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. This website is not affiliated in any way with the National Credit Union Administration, a federal agency, and the emails are not from NCUA.
The emails attempt to persuade individuals to provide personal information, such as Social Security numbers, account numbers and login information, or transfer large amounts of money. Consumers should neither provide information to this website nor attempt to conduct any financial transactions through it. NCUA would not request personal or financial information in this manner. See NCUA’s Privacy Policy for more information.
NCUA is the independent federal agency created by the U.S. Congress to regulate, charter and supervise federal credit unions. With the backing of the full faith and credit of the United States, NCUA operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of more than 99 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions. Updated 03/17/2015
Anthem Announces Data Breach
On February 6, 2015, Anthem announced that they were the target of a sophisticated cyber-attack. Millions of former and current Anthem members had their personal information compromised including social security numbers, names, birthdays, medical IDs, street addresses, emails and employment information.
Because so much private, personal information was lost, identity theft is a huge concern. If you were included in this data breach there are steps you can take to protect your information:
- Visit www.annualcreditreport.com and receive and review a free copy of your credit report. Each credit bureau is required to provide a free credit report once a year.
- Place a lock or freeze on your credit report. Contact Experian at 1-888-397-3742. They will notify Equifax and TransUnion.
- Setup specific email alerts for your UCU account activity through online banking.
- Setup a password for your UCU Accounts.
- Make sure contact information, including cell phone number and email, is current on all your accounts.
- Upload UCU’s free mobile app, so you can easily monitor your account from any location, any time.
- Watch for phishing scams; emails designed to look like they are from Anthem that attempt to get you to click on a link, download a file or enter login credentials.
Anthem has created a dedicated website www.AnthemFacts.com where members can access information such as frequently asked questions and answers.
Please know that if your UCU Visa Debit or Mastercard is impacted by this breach, you will be notified immediately and your Debit/Credit Card will be blocked and replaced. We encourage you to watch for changes in your account activity and notify us immediately if any fraudulent charges post to your account at 310.477.6628, ext 1.