Fraud is on the rise...PLEASE READ
Credit Union of Denver’s highest priority is our members security. These days, everyone must be on alert. Criminals use a variety of techniques to access Your Money. You may have heard of the Sweetheart Scam, COVID-19 Scams, Spoofing Texts, Lottery and Prize Scam, Debt Collection Scams, IRS, Zelle Fraud, etc.
All of these have one goal in common... they need your trust, your financial data, and perhaps your identity.
These scammers need you to tell them your account information and passwords or give them access to your device.
Credit Union of Denver will NEVER ask you for your online banking login or password. We have access to the system, so we don’t need it. Don’t share your password or login information with anyone!
Question the details:
- Is it real, or not? Be skeptical of any call, text or email, and of those requiring a quick response. If you didn’t initiate the phone call disconnect and do your own independent quest. Any company that is real, will not mind if you do this. Find the company’s official web address and official contact information to verify if it’s legitimate. Remember, never use the information provided by the potential scammer, like a provided phone number, URL, email links or open any attachments.
- Be aware that most companies and federal institutions don’t call directly, especially unsolicited. Most, like the IRS, will use snail mail to alert you of something important. Some companies do send emails but pay attention to spelling mistakes and bad grammar – it’s a sure sign of a hacker. If a caller has a demanding tone or uses urgency or scare tactics, hang up and move on.
- If you ever have a doubt about if we are reaching out, just give us a call. We have had several people call in with suspicions and we were able to assure them that they were smart to reach out as they were targeted by criminals.
Here is an actual member’s interaction with a scammer. Member received scam text on their phone:
CREDIT UNION OF DENVER FREE ALERT: Did you use card at WALMART* on 02/05/22 for $793.00? Reply: Yes, No or Txt STOP to opt-out.
Member replied no and then it was followed by:
Thank you we will be contacting you shortly.
The number 870-888-7880 was used for the text.
The call came next which stated it was from Credit Union of Denver from 303-234-1700. (This is called spoofing)
The criminals called as promised and identified themselves as Credit Union of Denver:
They said they will have to reset the online banking access. They asked for login and password.
Member said, “I am uncomfortable with giving you the password”, they replied,” No problem. We will send you a code, once you get the code, just give us that and we’ll be all set.”.
Meanwhile the scammer was selecting forgot password where you login into online banking. The code is real, (if you ever forget your password) but this just gave them the green light to access the online banking account. They can now send Zelle payments or Bill Pay Checks/ACH out to fictitious places to receive the money.
We are providing this information to prevent our members from becoming victims. We hope this helps you to be better informed so you can know when to be suspicious when receiving odd texts, calls or emails.