CUNA
Target Of New Card-Activation Phish Attempt
CUNA, (NOT CUNA Mutual Group), is being used as the subject
of a phishing message targeting your credit union members
to collect personal account information, plastic card numbers,
and passwords. CUNA is warning people who receive the e-mail
not to click on the link to the fake web page, just delete
the message.
This new phishing-scam attempt using the Credit Union National
Association's name, informs recipients about "irregular
check card activity" and advises them to call a toll-free
number to get any restrictions removed. Calling the toll-free
number is a "bad idea," says Dorothy Steffens, CUNA's
vice president of web services, 800-356-9655 ex 5719. The
call is a ploy to get personal account information, possibly
for identity theft purposes.
Recipients received a message as a:
"CUNA Alert: Irregular Check
Card Activity"
"We detected irregular activity on check card on Oct.
25/2007. For your protection, you must reactivate your card.
Call us immediately at 1.866.840.2863. We will review the
activity on your account with you and upon verification, we
will remove any restrictions placed on your account.
Please disregard this notice if you have already accessed
the website or spoken with one of our representatives."
As a trade association for U.S. credit unions, "CUNA
does not maintain any type of customer/member financial information,"
emphasized Steffens, adding that "your financial institution
would never request personal identification information over
the phone."
And while this phone number has since been disabled, a new
phishing e-mail with a different phone number started making
the rounds on October 30, 2007.
"Anyone responding to any e-mails of this type should
contact their financial institution directly using the phone
number provided by it," she said.
Also, another phish making the rounds earlier with CUNA's
name on it comes from a gmail.com address and addresses "Credit
Union National Association SERVICE." It says CUNA ensures
security "by regularly screening the accounts in our
system. We recently reviewed your account, and we need more
information to help us provide you with secure service."
It provides a "case ID" and a link to a fake website
mimicking CUNA's.
Consumer Phishing Information Links:
http://www.phishinginfo.org/ http://www.fraud.org/tips/internet/phishing.htm |
