Report Suspicious E-mail

If you receive a suspicious e-mail representing itself as Members 1st Federal Credit Union, please forward the message to: scam@members1st.org.

When you report a suspicious e-mail, Members 1st will aggressively pursue the perpetrators and shut down Web sites and phone services fraudulently collecting information.

Please do NOT change the subject line of the e-mail you are forwarding. As a precaution, you should immediately delete the email from your inbox after forwarding.

eMail Fraud – Phishing Scam

Many Americans often receive a series of fraudulent emails directing recipients to Web sites where they are asked to verify sensitive personal information. These claim that the individual’s personal information is necessary to correct a problem with an account, resolve problems with an online purchase, or even assist in the fight against terrorism or some other purpose allegedly required by law.

These emails appear to be sent from legitimate businesses or government agencies. The Web site links within the message direct recipients to similar appearing, if not clones, of the legitimate business and government Web sites.

These fraudulent emails are part of a scam known as “phishing.” Phishing is illegal and involves sending an email to a user falsely claiming to be a legitimate company or agency. The email attempts to con the user into surrendering private information that could later be used for identity theft. The email directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as name, account and credit card numbers, passwords, social security numbers and related information. The Web site, however, is a bogus clever copy and set up only to steal the user’s information.

Rest assured, we do not and will not communicate with you by email to request important confidential personal information. We do occasionally send emails regarding promotions. Members 1st has been a victim of a Phishing attack, and several members have reported receiving these fraudulent messages impersonating us and other businesses or government agencies they may have a relationship with.

Protect yourself from this latest identity theft scam by following these tips from the Federal Trade Commission:

• If you get an email that warns you, with little or no notice, that your account will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing information, do not reply or click on the link in the email. Contact the company cited in the email using a telephone number or Web site address you know to be genuine.
• Avoid emailing personal and financial information. Before submitting financial information through a Web site, look for the “lock” icon on the browser’s status bar. It signals that your information is secure during transmission.
• Review credit card and account statements as soon as you receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your Credit Card Company or financial services provider to confirm your billing address and account balances.
• Report suspicious activity to the FTC. Send the actual spam to spam@uce.gov. If you believe you have been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov, and then visit the FTC’s Identity Theft Web site www.ftc.gov/idtheft to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from identity theft.