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Beware of Phishing and Other ID Theft Scams

1,000 People a Day Fall to "Identity Theft"!

Beware of Phishing and Other ID Theft Scams

Phishing - pronounced fishing - is the latest form of identity theft. It's when thieves act as if they are representing us and try to "hook" you into providing personal information. Once you're "hooked," the thieves can do serious damage to your financial accounts. They can dupe you into providing your Social Security number, financial account numbers, PIN numbers, passwords, mother's maiden names and other personal information.

How Does Phishing Work?

By E-mail:

The most common form of phishing is by e-mail. For instance, you could receive an e-mail from New Cumberland Federal Credit Union, asking you to "reconfirm" your personal information. Unfortunately, this e-mail is not from us, but from a phisher pretending to be a representative of our organization.

Typically, the e-mail contains a link to a website that looks like a near-replica of our site. You click onto the link and add your personal information, which goes right into the hands of identity thieves. It's important to not respond to these e-mails.

By Phone:

Phishers also use the phone to hunt for personal information. Some, posing as employers, call or send e-mails to people who have listed themselves on job search websites.

While phishing scams can be sophisticated, the following features are often indicators that something is suspicious.

Be aware of a potential scam if:

	Someone unexpectedly contacts you and asks for your personal information, such as your financial institution account number, an account password or PIN, credit card number or Social Security. New Cumberland Federal Credit Union would not contact you for that information.
	The sender, who is supposedly a representative of our organization, asks you to confirm that you have a relationship with us. We have that information on record.
	You are warned that your account will be shut down unless you "reconfirm" your financial information.

New Cumberland Federal Credit Union is doing everything we can to counter this type of criminal activity. Your account protection is our top priority, so we have done the following to keep potential phishers from invading your privacy:

	We require you to give a PIN number whenever you call on the telephone for information concerning your account.
	We require ID to be presented when doing withdrawal transactions at the offices.
	We require address changes to be done in writing or through the Home Banking system.

If you receive an unsolicited e-mail or phone call that seems suspicious, and is allegedly from our organization, please do not reveal any information. In fact, please call us at 800-716-2328 to verify that the request is legitimate.

1,000 People a Day Fall to "Identity Theft"!
Source: Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

According to the FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, the most common forms of identity theft are:

	Credit Card Fraud- a credit card account is opened in a consumer's name or an existing credit card account is "taken over"
	Communications Services Fraud- the identity thief opens telephone, cellular, or other utility service in the consumer's name;
	Bank Fraud- a checking or savings account is opened in the consumer's name, and/or fraudulent checks are written; and
	Fraudulent Loans- the identity thief gets a loan, such as a car loan in the consumer's name.

Under the Identity Theft Act, a name or SSN is considered a "means of identification." So is a credit card number, a cellular telephone electronic serial number or any other piece of information that may be used alone or in conjunction with other information to identify a specific individual.

Source: FTC Facts for Consumers

Social engineering is the act of obtaining information directly from people through human interaction. The purpose of this ploy is to obtain information that will allow a thief to steal another person's identity, thereby profiting from it

Goldmine Information:

Social Security Card
Birth Certificate
Medical Cards
Passport
Pistol Permit
Student ID w/Social Security Number

This is a list of the basic personal information that thieves set out to acquire in order to steal someone's identity:

Name
Address
Telephone number
Social Security number
Mother's maiden name
Place of employment
Date of birth

Even the donut shop can be a dangerous place if you are in the presence of a crafty social engineer. Consider, for example, the case of Jim. Jim is the type of guy who likes to talk and tell everyone his business. When he is on vacation he stops in at the local donut shop and tells everyone where he is going that day. One individual takes a particular interest in Jim as he gets his morning coffee. He asks Jim where he is going and warns him about carrying too much cash. Jim informs him that he always takes travelers' checks and says he just stopped at his local financial institution to purchase them. They discuss Jim's family and vehicle, and perhaps other trivial information. When Jim leaves, the individual stand up, offers his hand, tells Jim his name, and then Jim of course offers his last name as well.

Our social engineer now goes to work. He has the basic information he needs and can now easily use the local telephone directory to find Jim's house. When he gets there, the next-door-neighbor, who has been watching Jim's home while he is away, immediately appears and our engineer works the magic of social interaction. He says he is a long lost friend of Jim's who just happens to be in town and has come to visit as a surprise. With the information gained at the donut shop, he now knows enough to be trusted by the neighbor who may even give him Jim's mother's maiden name. This information will allow our social engineer to steal Jim's identity without picking through the mailbox of sorting trash. In fact, that is exactly what he would have done if Jim's neighbor hadn't been home.

The Internet provides thieves with an even easier way to obtain personal identification. Do you enjoy having your own website? Do you post genealogical information to this website? If so, you may have made available to the social engineer your personal identification and possibly your mother's maiden name. The disturbing truth is that in the future many people will unwittingly lose their identity to their very own web pages.

We must in the future be more careful about delivering personal information to anyone. The grocery stores, sporting good stores and other miscellaneous organizations don't need our e-mail, date of birth, or social security number.

To learn more information on Identity Theft visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft.