Beware of emails asking for personal information
From time to time, scammers send out emails to random email accounts claiming to be from a financial institution hoping some of the recipients have accounts. They link to sites that look identical to the financial institution's site. The recipient then logs in and reveals personal information or fills out a survey requiring account numbers or credit card numbers.
Arizona Federal will never ask for account numbers or credit card numbers via email. If you have received an email like this, do not respond. Forward it to reportfraud@arizonafederal.org.
Below are several common scams:
Account Access is denied/expired
These emails ask the recipient to click on a link. This link takes them to a fake site that looks identical to the financial institution's site. The recipient then is asked to log in and reveal personal information.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Click here to view another sample email! ››
Click here to view a third sample email! ››
Click here to view a fourth sample email! ››
Click here to view a fifth sample email! ››
Alert message
These emails claim you have a message or two and must log in to retrieve them. To be safe, always type in the website address, www.arizonafederal.org or www.azfcu.org, yourself to log into your account.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Bill Pay is out of date/denied/expired
This email claims an institution has restricted Bill Pay, because the account is out of date. The recipient is asked to click on a link and log in to verify or update personal information.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Check card activity
This email claims to have blocked a check card because of irregular activity. It provides a phone number to call.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Contact Information change/update
These emails inform the recipient their contact information or personal profile has been changed or reset. They are asked to click on a link, log into their account, and verify this action.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Click here to view another sample email! ››
Equifax ePORT
This fraudulant email claims you must fill out an online form for Equifax.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
e-Statement or Email confirmation
This fraudulant email asks you to confirm you email for your e-statements, most likely to better tailor custom scams for you.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Identity Theft Protection
This fraudulant email offers you a new identity theft protection program with a catchy name. To sign up, you simply reply to the email with a "yes" and your credit union's name.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
IRS Criminal Investigation
The e-mail purporting to be from IRS Criminal Investigation falsely states that the person is under a criminal probe for submitting a false tax return to the California Franchise Tax Board. The e-mail seeks to entice people to click on a link or open an attachment to learn more information about the complaint against them. The IRS warned people that the e-mail link and attachment is a Trojan Horse that can take over the person’s computer hard drive and allow someone to have remote access to the computer.
Similar e-mail variations suggest a customer has filed a complaint against a company and the IRS can act as an arbitrator. The latest versions appear aimed at business taxpayers as well as individual taxpayers.
Login errors
This email claims your account has been restricted due to login errors. It asks you to click on a link and verify your information.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Member Satisfaction Surveys and $100 rewards
This email offers $100 or a similar amount for completing a member satisfaction survey. The recipient is taken to a very clever look-a-like site and fills out the survey. The next page takes them into a fake online banking session, and the recipient provides confidential information.
Arizona Federal does send out an annual Member Survey, but we will not ask for account numbers, credit card numbers or login information.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Click here to view another sample email! ››
Click here to view the fraudulant site and survey! ››
New Secure Password
This email tells the recipient the financial institution is working to combat the phishing attacks and has a new 256-bit password program to protect your money.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Password Reset/Failure
These emails inform the recipient their password has been reset. They are asked to click on a link, log into their account, and verify this action.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Quizes
This email ask you to complete a quiz for a chance to win a large cash prize. They ask for an account number and/or credit card number to deposit the prize if you win.
Arizona Federal will never ask for a credit card number or account number in a quiz. Also, all of our quizes originate either on our website or from within CU Online. If you receive an email about a quiz that you did not sign up for from within CU Online, report it to our fraud team at reportfraud@arizonafederal.org.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Renew Your Account/Services
This email claims specific services are expiring. The recipient must click on a link and renew a service.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Security Warnings & Features
These emails tell about a new security feature or warning and ask the recipient to click on a link, log into their account and sign up. If there is a new security procedure, we will not provide a link in the email directing you to log into our site. We will tell you to look for the feature the next time you log in.
Click here to view a sample email! ››
Click here to view another email! ››
Surveys
Or they may be asked to complete a survey, and must provide a credit card or account number to be paid. Arizona Federal will never ask you for an account number of a credit card number to complete a survey.
Note: Almost all of Arizona Federal's surveys are initiated from within CU Online, such as our Secret Shopper program and our Auto Loan Protection product survey. If you receive an email about a survey you didn't not sign up for within CU Online, call us at (602) 683-1088 to confirm if it is legitimate.
Click here to read a fraudulant survey email! ››
Click here to read another fraudulant survey email! ››
Verified by Visa
This email tells about Verified by Visa, a security feature to protect you when shopping online. It claims you have been automatically enrolled and must click a link to activate your password.
Verified by Visa is a real program, but we will not automatically enroll you, nor will your card stop working if you don't verify a password. To learn more about the real Verified by Visa program, click here.
Click here to view the fraudulant email! ››
Click here to view a variant of the fraudulant email! ››
Click here to view another variant! ››
How could someone get my email address?
There are several ways someone could obtain your email address.
Webpages
Spammers have programs called "spiders" which go through web pages looking for email addresses. Many businesses, committees and other organizations who list email addresses on their site are easy targets for these programs.
Also, if you have a personal website, it's very common to include a "mailto:" link so visitors can just click on a link and send you an email. Again, this is a very easy way for spammers and fraudsters to obtain your email address.
Are you curious if your email address is available on a web page? Try searching for your email address in Google. You might be surprised how many pages it's listed on.
Mailing Lists
A spammer could obtain a mailing list with your address on it. Before signing up for an electronic newsletter, make sure you read the privacy policy and know how your information will be used.
UseNet and other sites you can post to
If you use your email address to post information on a comment board, a UseNet or some other forum, spammers and fraudsters have the technology to scan these sites and extract your email address. Again, try searching for your email address using any popular search engine to see if your information is listed somewhere.
Click here to learn more about Online Security! ››
Click here to learn more about Phishing! ››
What is Arizona Federal doing to combat Phishing Scams?
Arizona Federal is taking several steps to actively combat
current phishing scams:
- Shutting down phishing sites – We've partnered with Cyveillance, a leader in online risk monitoring and management. They constantly monitor for online fraud and work to shut down frauduant sites. They serve companies such as AOL, Microsoft, over half of the Fortune 50, as well as Arizona Federal.
- Member education – We provide a library of fraud prevention articles on our website, fraud prevention tips in our branches, and seminars teaching members how to protect themselves.
- Leading by example - Arizona Federal will never send an email to members asking for account or credit card information. Members are encouraged to forward all suspicious email to reportfraud@arizonafederal.org.
Each day, our team works diligently to combat security threats and takes proactive measures to prevent risks. The security of our members’ information is of the utmost importance.
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