Avoid Getting Hooked: TSCU's Phishing Lesson

Tempe Schools Credit Union values the safety and security of our members, their accounts and identities. One way we help to maintain your security is to inform you about email scams and phishing attacks, which can result in your account being compromised. Keeping you informed is one way to prevent falling victim to a phishing scam which may result in identity theft.

What is Phishing?
Phishing is a type of e-mail or texting (cell phone) scam designed to steal personal and financial identity. Phishers send mass emails or texts to a large number of people hoping to lure those who are actual clients of that financial institution or retailer to click a link to a fraudulent website or phone number that looks or sounds to be legitimate and enter their account and/or personal information. This form of identity theft uses these schemes to lead consumers into divulging financial data such as:

• credit card numbers
  
• account numbers
  
• usernames and passwords
  
• social security numbers

The best way to protect yourself from this type of fraud is to never respond to these email or text requests of information. Immediately contact your credit union if you feel suspicious about the request.
TSCU will never use emailing or texting for this kind of information.
What does a phishing email look like?

Phishers often include official-looking logos from real organizations and other identifying information taken directly from legitimate Websites. To make phishing e mail messages look even more legitimate, the scam artists often place a link in them that appears to go to the legitimate website, but it actually takes you to a phony scam site or possibly a pop-up window that looks exactly like the official site.
These copycat sites are also called “spoofed” websites. Once you're at one of these spoofed sites, you might unwittingly send personal information to the con artists.

Ways to Avoid A Phishing Scam
The best line of defense against fraud begins with you. The following list of valuable tips is presented to help you protect yourself. Working together, we'll ensure that you enjoy a safe relationship with Tempe Schools Credit Union and help you avoid falling victim to a phishing scam.

• Be suspicious of any email or text with urgent requests for personal financial information
• Don't use the links in an email to get to any web page, if you suspect message might not be authentic-instead, call the company on the telephone, or log onto the website directly by typing in the Web address in your browser
• Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal financial information
  -you should only communicate information such as credit card numbers or account information via a secure website or the telephone
• Regularly check your accounts, credit and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate-if anything is suspicious, contact your financial institution and all card issuers
  Always report “phishing” or “spoofed” e-mails to Internet Fraud Complaint Center of the FBI by filing a complaint on their website: www.ic3.gov (copy and paste to your browser, this will take you to the FBI website)

If you need assistance or discover any suspicious online sites, emails, or other fraudulent activity involving your account, please contact our Information Systems Department.

You may reach them at 480.967.9475 or use our toll free number 1-800-851-7749 Monday-Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM. You may also contact us securely via our website 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To report a suspicious email which used Tempe Schools Credit Union's name and asked for personal or account information, please let us know by forwarding the email to info@tscu.org Please do not change the subject line. After forwarding, please delete the email from your inbox.