Attention: Dover Federal Credit Union Members

Consumer Alert: Beware of “Phishing” Emails

Have you received emails asking you to very your account information or telling you you’re your account access may be removed if you do not respond? These emails may be part of the newest trend by thieves to capture your personal information in an attempt to steal your identity: “Phishing.” They may look as if they come from Dover Federal and may include a message that encourages you to link to a fraudulent site that looks similar to Dover Federal's Web site.

Sadly, these phishing scams occur often and are aimed at members and customers of all financial institutions, including Dover Federal.

It is very important to remember that Dover Federal will never send you an email asking you for confidential information.

These phony emails can appear to come from all kinds of services, such as your Internet Service Provider (ISP), retailers, online auction sites and others. They’ll often use legitimate “From” email addresses, logos and links. Remember, they are trying to get you to take immediate action without thinking about the consequences.

Currently, there are two basic types of Internet phishing schemes:

An email asks you to provide personal account information online. The email links to a false Web site that's been constructed to resemble that of your financial institution, where you are told to verify certain information.
An email asks you to provide personal account information by calling a fraudulent phone number. When you call, you're asked to provide such things as card numbers and PINs to verify their information.

What kind of information are they looking for?

They may want you to provide your Social Security number (SSN), bank and credit card account numbers, PINs and date of birth for starters. With that kind of information, they can steal your identity and open new accounts that you might not find out about until fraudulent charges start showing up on your credit report.

Remember, you should never reply to an email that:

Requires you to enter personal and confidential information, including your SSN, account number(s), login ID numbers, etc.
Threatens to close or suspend your account(s).
States that your account has been compromised in some way and you need to confirm your information.
Asks you to enter an account access code or personal password in any way.

What can you do to protect yourself?

Here are some tips to protect yourself from "phishing":

Don’t click on links or open any attachments that come to you by email. Copy and paste the address into your browser. Save attachments and scan them with your virus software before opening.
Don’t trust a link from an email just because it takes you to a site that looks legitimate. Scammers can copy those easily.
Verify with the company that the email is legitimate before submitting any personal information online or by phone.
Try not to fill out forms contained in emails. You can never be sure where the information is going or who sees it along the way.
Email headers can be forged. Be suspicious until you know for sure.
If you click on a link from an unsolicited email, make sure there’s an “s” after the http in the address and a lock on your browser bar, signifying a secure site that is encrypted. This is no guarantee, however, that the site is legitimate.

Did you respond to a fraudulent email?

If you mistakenly answered a fraudulent email, do the following:

Change your Account Login password from an uninfected PC.
Ensure that you have a current firewall, anti-virus software and spyware detection software installed on your PC.
Run a virus scan on your PC, and clean up any viruses or Trojans that are detected.
Change your Account Login password again.

We recommend that you carefully review your Dover Federal account transactions at now, and then every week or so on an on-going basis. Immediately report any fraudulent transactions or activity to Dover Federal.

IRS Warns of New E-Mail and Telephone Scams Using the IRS Name; Advance Payment Scams Starting

The IRS cautioned taxpayers to be on the lookout for scams involving proposed advance payment checks. Although the government has not yet enacted an economic stimulus package in which the IRS would provide advance payments, known informally as rebates to many Americans, a scam which uses the proposed rebates as bait has already cropped up.

To read the entire article click here

Phishing ‘NAFCU’ e-mails picking up

April 18, 2008—NAFCU members and others yesterday were reporting a high incidence of phishing e-mails eeking “verification” of credit-card and other sensitive data, so be alert.

This volume of phishing reports to the association hasn’t occurred for roughly a year, and the association's anti-phishing service provider, Cyveillance, devoted a good deal of its time Thursday working to locate the offending sites and get them deactivated.

If you receive an e-mail that asks for sensitive financial or personal identification information, the best thing to do is delete it. The e-mails can also be e-mailed to abuse@nafcu.org, and we’ll report them to Cyveillance.

EXAMPLES OF FRAUDULENT EMAILS AND SCAMS

Internet pirates are trying to steal your personal financial information!!

You have the power to stop them!! Do not give your account information to people that contact you on the internet asking you to "update" or "verify".

There is a free brochure that explains what phishing is and how to avoid being a target available at all Dover Federal Credit Union branches.

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