People through out the Tennessee Valley have been getting text messages asking them to call a (508) xxx-xxxx telephone number. The number goes to an automated system that asks for a card number, expiration date, and PIN. This is a scam!

Regardless of what number the text asks you to call, if you get one of these messages please do not respond. If you have already responded please contact our members services department or come into a branch as soon as possible so that we can help you protect your accounts.

Remember, a financial institution will never contact you asking for personal or private information they already possess. If there is ever any question about the legitimacy of a call, text, or email please contact your financial institution directly.

The Breakdown:

This particular scam seems to be a broad stroke attack. Text as many people as possible stating that they are from various different financial institutions and they are bound to match a bunch together. Even if only a few people respond they still accomplish their goal. See example below.

“Notice at (Financial Institution); Please call x-xxx-xxx-xxxx”

Text Message

Welcome to our credit union’s telebranch service – A message has been sent to inform that your Debit card has been limited and to reactivate press 1 now.

When you call the number it states,

This is a scam and as a reminder we will never contact you asking for personal or private information.

The Breakdown:

Scammers can easily purchase or pirate lists of cell phone numbers for a specific region. By spamming a region with the name of a financial institution from that area the scammer hopes to add credibility to the message and this entice you to respond.

Concerning the 4 digits of the card number. These numbers are not extremely secretive. The first 6 numbers are called a BIN number. Every financial institution has their own specific/unique number(s). It’s used to route the transactions to the correct institution. It is no great feat to send a message to a set of telephone numbers in a specific region with a name and first 4 digits of a card number.

While it’s not very tricky to accomplish this, it can be very effective to those who may not realize this. We offer this information to you so that you can be aware of the many tactics scammers use and protect yourself.

Be informed, be safe.

We are working diligently to make sure this scam gets shut down but wanted to remind you that this is not from TVFCU and that we will never contact you via email for personal or financial information. Below are examples of the types of emails being received for your convenience.

Subject: Your tvfcu.com account information has changed

New secret questions were added to your tvfcu.com account.

To ensure that your account information remains accurate and secure we notify you whenever this information changes.

This change request was made on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:29:28 -0500

If the changes described above are accurate, no further action is needed. If anything doesn’t look right, follow the link below to
make changes:

(Link removed for security)

Regards,
tvfcu.com Account Services
————————-
Please do not reply to this message. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

Example #1

Subject: Confirm your e-mail address

Hello, (Email Address).

Thank you for signing up for a tvfcu.com. Please follow the instructions below to confirm that you signed up for this account, or to cancel the account if you did not sign up.

CONFIRM ACCOUNT
To help prevent unauthorized account creation, we need you to confirm your e-mail address. We will use this e-mail address to send you important messages about your account. Also, some tvfcu.com sites and services may require a confirmed e-mail address.

Please confirm your email by visiting the URL (Link removed for security)

CANCEL ACCOUNT

If you didn’t sign up for the account with this e-mail address and want to cancel the account, select and copy the following link. Open a browser and paste the link in the address bar. Press Enter or Return on your keyboard and follow the instructions that display.

Cancel your email by visiting the URL (Link removed for security)

Thank you,

tvfcu.com Customer Support

NOTE:
Please do not reply to this message, which was sent from an unmonitored e-mail
address. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

Example #2

Again, TVFCU will never contact you via email for this kind of information.

These calls are not from TVFCU. Do not give out any information and if you have given out any personal/account information, please contact us immediately to protect your accounts.

These fraudulent checks are most likely produced by an individual getting a cashiers check from their financial institution and being sent to the scammer unknowingly either by mail or by digital copy.

Please be extremely cautious when receiving unsolicited checks in the mail. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

These calls are not from TVFCU. Any calls requesting card number and expiration should be for the purpose of purchases only, never for identification. Also, there is absolutely no legitimate purpose for someone to request your pin number. Any calls that ask for this information are not legitimate.

These text messages are not from TVFCU. Do not give out any information and if you have given out any personal/account information, please contact us immediately to protect your accounts.