How Safe is Your Identity & Financial Information?

We've compiled some information and resources to help you be aware of the rise in threats to your personal and financial information.

Be Aware of Scam Artists!
Identity theft and the fraudulent activity associated with it is on the rise in our area and across the country. Scam artists are posing as governmental officials, tax collectors, and financial institutions to trick you into revealing your personal information. Please be advised that some of these scam artists may already have a portion of your member number, account number, social security number, or credit card number and may ask you to complete the information.

"Phishing" is the attempt by scam artists to acquire personal and financial information,such as passwords, social security numbers, account or credit card information, by posing as a trustworthy person or business. Most are sent via email or instant message nowadays, but may also come by mail, fax, or telephone.  Don't fall victim to a "phishing" trap!

Remember:  PSCU will never contact you and ask you to reveal account or personal information.  Do not give your member number or personal information to anyone unless you were the one who initially contacted them.

• Be up to date on the latest identity theft scams.
• Keep all your account numbers, PINs, and passwords secure.
• Never disclose any personal information via the telephone, including social security numbers, your mother's maiden name, or account number if you did not initiate the call.
• Do not open any email attachments from people or companies that you do not know or are unfamiliar with.
• Delete any suspicious email without opening attachments.
• If you receive emails or messages requesting personal or financial information, even if it says its from a company you've heard of, do not reply or click to follow any of the links.  Instead, try to call the company directly to see if it was really them or type in their website address manually in your web browser.  Email is not a secure method of transmitting sensitive and personal information, and scam artists can put fake links to legitamate-looking websites in emails to try to fool you into disclosing your information.
• Be suspicious of entering personal information into a pop-up window, even if it may look official.
• Review all statements in a timely fashion to check for any unauthorized charges. Contact us if you suspect one or more of your PSCU accounts has fraudulent activity.
• Be aware of the privacy policies with any companies or institutions you do business or are associated with to understand how they store and use the personal information they collect from you.
• If you suspect the IRS may be trying to contact you, call them at 1-800-829-1040.  If you receive something that is supposedly from the IRS requesting more personal information in order for you to receive your tax refund, this is an identity theft attempt. Please visit http://www.ic3.gov to file a complaint.
• If you have received an email supposedly from Pelican State Credit Union, requesting personal information, please forward it to info@pelicanstatecu.com*. For more information on account security, call 1-800-351-4877 ext. 4507.

There have been been multiple e-mail fraud attempts that target credit union members all across the country. The email message claims to be originating from a national credit union organization, like CUNA or NCUA, and directs the recipient to click on a link to verify their credit union account registration. The member is then directed to a false website where they are asked for their credit union account number and PIN, along with other personal information. If you receive a suspicious email claiming to be from Pelican State Credit Union, do not respond to that email. Instead call us at 1-800-351-4877 ext. 4507 to speak with a PSCU representative and forward the message to info@pelicanstatecu.com*.

PSCU will never ask our members to provide any account information without providing a way to directly contact a PSCU representative. Never send personal information such as PINs, passwords, account numbers or social security numbers via email.

For more information about the national credit union organizations mentioned, please visit http://www.cuna.org or http://www.ncua.gov.

Another common scam sent via email is one from someone unfamiliar to you explaining a company is selling art in other countries and needs assistance in cashing checks drawn on U.S. financial institutions or that some rich person in another country has passed died tragically and has no heirs so they would like your help in cashing a check to settle the estate. The scam works like this: a person receives a check in the mail, deposits or cashs the item, keeps a percentage (usually 10% as payment for their assistance), and wires the balance out of the country to an unfamiliar company or person. By the time the items are returned fraudulent or counterfeit, the money is out of the country, the deposit item is reversed from the defrauded individual's account, and they now are out all of the money including their percentage. Since the item is fraudulent and the company which provided the items is unknown, there is no way to pursue collections. If you receive an email with this request delete it immediately and do not respond to it.

Never accept money orders or cashiers checks from individuals that you do not know personally and cannot personally pursue for your funds if the deposit is reversed. There is a significant amount of fraudulent transactions occurring that involve forged documents. These items look just like the real thing though they are not. Please be aware that the risk of loss is to the individual that signs the item. Be sure to read the disclosure on the back of the item above the signature line.