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I just received the following email. Looks very authentic...I guess. Might fool someone. Don’t let that someone be YOU.
“Credit Union recently became aware of a large data security breach at Card-Systems, a merchant payment processor who is not affiliated with Credit Union.”
Credit Union Security Notice - Card-Systems Breach
Dear Credit Union Customer,
Credit Union recently became aware of a large data security breach at Card-Systems, a merchant payment processor who is not affiliated with Credit Union.
Only credit card information was breached, no personal information was compromised. As always, Credit Union Customers are not responsible for any fraud losses if they occur.
Credit Union is a leader in fraud prevention and we monitor your account and will notify you of suspicious activity.
Once Credit Union has obtained and reviewed compromised account numbers we will notify those Customers likely to be at risk.
Credit Union is not recommending that you close your account, and no further action is required at this time except verify your identity with Credit Union.
Customers can help protect their account against fraud by verify your identity at:
http://www.creditunion.com/ < ---DO NOT GO THERE. --arin
Thank you,
Credit Union Management Center Customer Support
***********************************
IMPORTANT CUSTOMER SUPPORT INFORMATION
***********************************
Email :
Telephone: 1-800-201-7180Document Reference: (87051203).
© 2005 Credit Union National Association. All rights reserved.
Imposter sites plague free credit report site
A Web site created by federal mandate last year to help consumers spot identity theft is opening up new avenues for fraud, according to a privacy watchdog group.
The site, AnnualCreditReport.com, offers consumers free copies of their own credit reports. It was launched in December by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, the three major credit reporting agencies in the United States, in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. The federal law aims to quell growing concerns over privacy and disclosure of sensitive financial data.
However, the online service has quickly fallen prey to imposter sites, which are designed to lure traffic from a legitimate Web site by adopting a similar domain name. Imposters targeting the AnnualCreditReport.com site now number 112, according World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit based in San Diego that’s studying the problem. Another 120 registered domains that aren’t currently active employ the words annual credit report in some combination or are close misspellings of the official site, the group said.
read the full article here.
the ONLY legitimate site to obtain your free credit report through is: AnnualCreditReport.com
i’m really only posting this because it makes me chuckle and it’s been awhile since i got one of these emails. but just in case you might be fooled, it’s a scam!
From the Desk of:
Mr.Favour NdidiamakaWith great pleasure I Favour Ndidiamaka, working with a bank here in Nigeria as a Manager. I am writing you in respect of a foreign customer (an Oil consultant/contractor with our National Oil & Liquidified Gas Sector) whom made a US$25M depository for an investment program that hasremained dormant for years now. Hence, I have decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction.
On personal investigation, I discovered that the account holder died on December 2002 in the Ukrainian aircraft crash. I made further investigation and discovered that the customer died without making a WILLon the depository.
It may interest you to know that I am only contacting you as a foreigner because this money cannot be approved to a local Bank account here,but can only be approved to a foreigner with an account since the money is in US Dollars. I have decided as a matter of urgency upon this discovery now seek your permission to have you stand as next of kin to the fund as No one has ever come forward to claim this fund. It may also interest you to know that I have secured from the probate an ORDER OF MADAMUS to locate any of deceased beneficiary. In accordance to Nigerian Law, fund deposited for over a period of Six (6) years without claim will be reverted to the Government treasury, if nobody applies to claim this fund.
I will like you to provide immediately your full Names and Address,Date of Birth, Occupation, Tel & Fax Numbers so that an Attorney will be able to prepare the necessary documents and affidavit which will put you in place as the next of kin. The Attorney will draft and carry out the notarization of the WILL and also obtain the necessary documents and letter of probate/administration in your favour for the transfer.
At the successful conclusion of this business, your goodself shall be entitled to have 40% that is, USD$10M of the total money while I will have 55% that is USD$13.750M and 5% that is SD$1.250M for communications and other expenses. I am ready to invest a reasonable percentage of mine into any viable business you suggest as a joint partner. Your percentage will also be a source of upliftment. You have absolutely nothing to LOSE in assisting me instead, you have so much to GAIN. Be rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of us.
Your response is highly imperative as this is a TWO-man business deal transaction as I shall then provide you with more details and relevant documents that will help you understand the transaction. I need your assistance and co-operation to this reality as I have done my Home-work and fine tune the best way to create you as the beneficiary while I would use my connection and money to secure almost all the paperwork for this transaction which will be done by the Attorney and my position as the Branch Manager guarantees the successful execution of this transaction with you as the beneficiary to this fund.
I will appreciate your early reply for commencement of business.Contact me for acknowledgement by E-mail and whereby you are not interested,please indicate in your reply so that I can seek for the assistance of someone else.
If this proposal is acceptable by you, I expect that you will not take undue advantage of the trust I Will bestow in you. I await your urgent response.
Thanks with great regards.
Mr.Favour Ndidiamaka
LETTER OF ENDEAVOUR
ahahahaha.
i have a pet peeve with banks. while i sincerely appreciate the fraud prevention that many have implemented, i find it disturbing to be called at home by someone purporting to be from my bank, who asks me about my accounts and charges on those accounts. my normal reaction is to give them absolutely no information and to request a name and phone number from them. then i call the bank’s main number and tell them who i was contacted by. if it’s a valid call, they’ll transfer me to the correct department. it may seem somewhat paranoid, but with identity theft a very real issue, it’s the safest way.
this morning, i received a call from “tonya” at “imagine mastercard”. she stated she was with the “fraud dept” and that they were trying to locate *me* to verify that i had opened an account with them in oct-2007. when i wasn’t forthcoming with information, because i didn’t trust the phone call, she tried pumping me for information, “have you lived in missouri?” no, never been in missouri. i continued to remain skeptical of the phone call and, since i wasn’t a willing victim, she ended the call with, “i suggest you check your credit reports, as several accounts were opened using your information.”
well. she’s right. i checked my credit report and i’ve had accounts opened using my information… by me. none in october of 2007. no entries showing ‘imagine mastercard’ or it’s 1st bank of delaware. no suspicious activity at all.
looking up “imagine mastercard”, i see that they’re a “bad credit, no problem” credit card company. i called them directly and, as i expected, they required my ssn to be able to verify whether they had actually called or not. since they do not show on my credit report and since i’ve never opened an account with them, i refused to give them that information.
i’m unsure what the actual purpose of the call was, but based on the behaviour of the woman who called me and their company representatives that i spoke with later, i believe something fraudulent was afoot. two scenarios immediately came to mind: one, they call people alerting them of “fraudulent accounts”, hoping that it scares the people bad enough that they will react by divulging personal information that can be used to open accounts. or. two, they have bad debts that they’re trying to hang on anyone who is scared enough to divulge information, so that they can report it to credit reporting agencies and possibly be paid by a panicked consumer. the 2nd may seem farfetched, but i’ve had a similar experience with someone calling and claiming that i’d written a hot check and to come in and pay it immediately. when i asked for a copy of the check before i’d pay, it mysteriously became unavailable. (it wasn’t mine and i knew that from the start.)
whomever it was and whatever their purpose was, *something* was wrong with that phone call. be very very careful if you receive similar calls. do NOT ever divulge ANY personal information to someone who calls YOU. ask them for their name and a number you can reach them at. then look up the company and call them directly. let them connect you to the person who called. the same holds true with emails. never click through a company’s email to go to a url or reply to their email, unless you KNOW that the email is trustworthy. personally, even if i believe / know the email is trustworthy, i still refuse to click through. i go directly to the company’s website myself.
it’s entirely possible, as a 3rd scenario, that it was just a mistake (though they did have my name) and they called the wrong person.
it’s better to be safe than sorry, however!
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in debt we trust
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