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Current Scams August 18, 2005 We have been notified of a phishing by telephone scam. Someone called a consumer, claiming to be from the private corporate headquarters of the Bank and Credit Unions of America. The person claimed to be calling regarding the Privacy Act. The caller wanted to verify account and personal information of the consumer. The consumer said she needed to speak with her daughter first. When the daughter got on the line, the caller had hung up. This was obviously an attempt to gather personal information for fraudulent use. The consumer did the right thing by not giving any information. The consumer also followed up by contacting her financial institution about the call. The call was NOT legitimate. A financial institution should never call you and ask you to reveal personal or account information. If you initiate a call to your financial institution, you may have to give information to verify your identity. If you are not comfortable doing that, you should go to your financial institution personally and get the information you desire. Community Guaranty Savings Bank will never call or e-mail you and ask you to reveal personal or account information. ***************************************************************************** June 13, 2005 CGSB Customers - Phishing Alert We would like to make you aware of a fraudulent e-mail that we have seen. It may appear that it is coming from us. It is NOT. It is a typical phishing e-mail message to try to illicit you to give personal information for someone else to use for identity theft or other gains. Community Guaranty Savings Bank will not ask you to send personal information to us through an e-mail message. We may e-mail you for general communication, in response to an inquiry from you or as a form of notification. Again, we will NOT ask you to send any personal information through an e-mail. If you should receive one of these or any suspicious e-mail, we suggest that you NOT open it, that you DELETE it and then EMPTY your deleted items folder. This is merely our suggestion. You may have other requirements or procedures that you need to abide by. For instance, if you are using a PC at work, please check with your Supervisor or Technology person for guidance.
****************************************************************************** The following is a sample of the e-mail in question. Please notice the spelling errors. This is very common in phishing e-mails. For security reasons and your protection, any e-mail addresses or links are not displayed. Please remember this a sample of a fraudulent e-mail. It is NOT an actual message from Community Guaranty Savings Bank.
From: Guaranty Bank To: xxx Subject: Prevent Indentity Theft Dear Customer, We are contacting you to remind you that our Account Review Team wants to inform you how to prevent Indentity Theft in accordance with Guaranty Bank's User Agreement and to ensure that your account has not been compromised. We encourage you to sign on and perform the steps necessary to prevent to be a victim of a pishing email. To reduce or minimize the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud, please click on the link below: (link omitted) Guaranty Bank is committed to maintaining a safe environment for our customers. To protect your account, Guaranty Group employs some of the most advanced security systems in the world and our anti-fraud teams regularly screen the Online Banking system for unusual activity. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure meant to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience. Sincerely, Guaranty Group, Online Banking Customer Service. Again, please remember this a sample of a fraudulent e-mail. It is NOT an actual message from Community Guaranty Savings Bank. ****************************************************************************** March 14, 2006 Another phishing scam alert! Channel 9 News reported this morning of a fraudulent e-mail made to look like it is from the IRS. The person is told they have a refund coming and need to provide personal information for verification. DO NOT answer such an e-mail. The IRS states that they never contact people via e-mail. BE CAREFUL****************************************************************************** September 14, 2006 FRAUDULENT CASHIER’S CHECKS We’ve seen TWO Lottery Scams this week One claimed to be from Wal*Mart Financial Inc. and said the person had won the National Lotto Co-operation Sweepstakes Lottery. A fraudulent check was received along with the letter notification. All the person had to do was wire the applicable taxes and keep the rest. Of course, the check received is no good to begin with! The other scam, similar scenario, but claimed to be a Publishers Clearing House Lottery Winner. This letter instructed the person to deposit or cash the enclosed check to cover the tax amount to be wired. There was a promise of additional funds to come. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: Be wary of any unexpected check you receive. You cannot win a lottery you did not enter. You should never have to send in money anywhere to receive legitimate winnings. If you receive this type of mailing, notify your post office. This is MAIL FRAUD. Please notify Community Guaranty Savings Bank if you should receive any questionable check and/or request to wire funds. We will have our tellers be on the lookout for these checks and assist customers who receive them. REMEMBER: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. We have an informative brochure in the lobby of our Plymouth and Campton Offices. It is titled Counterfeit Cashier’s Checks and your risk of loss if you deposit them Please pick one up the next time you are in or give us a call and we can mail one to you.****************************************************************************** ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT ALERT Community Guaranty Savings Bank has been notified that an Internet website using the name “Star Systems” without authorization from STAR, is requesting individuals provide cardholder information. This fraudulent site is requesting information from the cardholder under the guise of providing improved security for consumers. One version of this website provides a picture of a card being inserted into a card reader. CGSB is advised that this particular website is not connected with the STAR Network and has been established by unknown persons presumably for the sole purpose of “phishing” cardholder information. Phishing is a form of identity theft where fraudsters, often posing as a trusted financial institution, act as if they are representing you and try to hook consumers into providing personal information. Please do NOT respond to any unsolicited e-mail or website asking for your personal and/or account information. Once someone has your information, they can potentially use it to make duplicate card plastics or use it to perform fraudulent transactions. Please be assured that the STAR Network does not and will not ask consumers to enter their cards over the Internet or in e-mail form when communicating with the network. ***************************************************************************** NEWS FROM COMMUNITY GUARANTY SAVINGS BANK We have been notified of a Scam and wish to pass the information on to you. As always, NEVER give personal or account information over the phone to someone who has called you. Your bank or credit card company should never call you and ask for this information. If you initiate the call to them, the bank or credit card company may ask you for some type of verification information so they know who you are. For example: your mother's maiden name or last four digits of SS#. Please read the following and BEWARE. Here is how the scam works: READ ENTIRE MESSAGE, THE CRITICAL INFO IS AT THE END. WARNING...New Credit Card Scam. Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; THEY already have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself. My husband was called on Wednesday from "VISA", and I was called on Thursday from "MasterCard". The scam works like this: Person calling says, "This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge Number is 12460 your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing company based in Arizona?" When you say "No", the caller continues with, "Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?" You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a Fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1-800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?" Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then says, "I need to verify you are in possession of Your card". He'll ask you to "turn your card over and look for some numbers". There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security Numbers' that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After you say No, the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call back if you do", and hangs up. You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card. Long story made short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost to late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report. What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a "Jason Richardson of MasterCard" with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a Police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is happening. Please pass this on to all your family and friends. By informing each other, we protect each other. ***************************************************************************** Phishing, Identity Theft and Scams Updated March 17, 2006 The Internal Revenue Service has issued several consumer warnings on the fraudulent use of the IRS name or logo by scamsters trying to gain access to consumers’ financial data in order to steal their assets. Fraudsters may use the IRS name because most consumers recognize it, have had prior communication with or from the IRS (such as receiving annual tax form and instruction packages) and have previously provided the IRS some financial data (such as that contained on tax returns). As a general rule, the IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or ask for detailed personal information. Additionally, the IRS does not ask people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts. Tricking consumers into disclosing their personal and financial data, such as secret access data or credit card or bank account numbers, is identity theft. Such schemes perpetrated through the Internet are called “phishing” for information. The information fraudulently obtained is then used to steal the taxpayer’s identity and financial assets. Typically, identity thieves use someone’s personal data to steal his or her financial accounts, run up charges on the victim’s existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim’s name and even file fraudulent tax returns. Identity theft usually causes immediate financial losses for the victims, who may also encounter lingering credit and other problems as a result of the identity theft. Identity theft schemes take numerous forms. Identity theft may be conducted by e-mail (phishing), standard mail, telephone or fax. Thieves may also go through trash looking for discarded tax returns, bank records, credit card receipts or other records that contain personal and financial information. When the IRS learns about schemes involving use of the IRS name, it tries to alert consumers as well as authorities that can shut down the scheme, if possible. The following are examples of recent schemes:
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has reported that it found 12 separate Web sites in 18 different countries hosting variations on this scheme.
To protect against potential identity thieves, take the following steps:
To report the fraudulent misuse of the IRS name, logo, forms or other IRS property, you may contact the TIGTA toll-free hotline at 1-800-366-4484 or visit the TIGTA Web site. Those who think their identity has been stolen should visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Web site for information about how to handle the aftermath of identity theft. Related Links:
This notice can be found at: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=154848,00.html ***************************************************************************** |
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