The Indiana Credit Union League is warning residents in Indiana and on the east coast about the circulation of counterfeit cashier's checks. The counterfeit checks appear to be from Centra Credit Union in Columbus, Ind. The absence of pink US patent numbers under the signature indicates the checks are fraudulent. To verify the authenticity of a Centra Credit Union check, you may call 1.800.232.3642, or stop by a PEFCU branch.

Source: CUNA

On March 21, a server containing customer billing records for dozens of Indiana businesses, was stolen from Central Collection Bureau. Affected businesses including St. Vincent Health System, Methodist Medical Group, Citizen's Gas and more, were notified. The billing information belonged to customers with past-due bills that had been turned over for debt collection.

Individuals whose information may have been compromised should monitor their credit reports closely and file a consumer alert with the credit bureaus.

Source: Associated Press

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is warning taxpayers to be alert for e-mail and telephone scams promoting advance payment checks using the IRS name. Scammers are using these e-mails and telephone calls to get individuals' personal information including Social Security numbers, bank account or credit card numbers.

Avoid being a victim of these scams by never providing your personal information via e-mail or telephone.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

Phishing scams are common and can take many forms. The common execution is via email links to websites that appear to be from a financial institutions where you will be asked sensitive information (like you password, social security number, or credit card numbers). For more information on this, please read this PEFCU news article.

Recently, Members of Notre Dame Credit Union were the targets of a recent online phishing scam designed to capture members' debit card and pin numbers. The members received an e-mail with a link to a Web page identical to the credit union's. PEFCU members have not been targeted for this scam, but are reminded to never give out their credit or debit card information over the phone or via e-mail. Members can also ensure they are on the PEFCU Web site by typing www.purdueefcu.com directly into their Web browsers and going through the multiple authentication process to log into their accounts.

PEFCU Cardholder Phishing Attempt

Members have reported receiving an e-mail request from PEFCU to "complete an account update so we can unlock your account" by calling a toll-free number. This e-mail is NOT from PEFCU and we believe it is an attempt to snag your personal cardholder information. Do not respond to this e-mail.

Remember, PEFCU would never ask for your full card number and/or expiration date by e-mail or by phone. If you recently responded to an e-mail suspected to be from PEFCU, please call the PEFCU Contact Center at 765.497.3328 or 800.627.3328 or email a PEFCU representative at mbrservice@purdueefcu.com.

Social Security/Medical Card Telephone Scam

Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter is warning residents about a new telephone scam that seeks to obtain their financial account number, social security number and other personal identification information. Callers tell victims that new Social Security cards or free medical cards are being sent and personal information must be verified. If you receive such a call, you should not provide any of your personal information to the caller. Hang up and report the call to the Indiana Attorney General's Consumer Fraud Division at 1.800.382.5516 or www.in.gov/attorneygeneral.

Source: Frost Illustrated

Child ID theft is a growing financial problem.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft reports for victims under 18 years old increased from 6,512 in 2003 to 10,835 in 2006 representing 5 percent of all identity thefts. The report lists teens as particularly vulnerable because of their increased access to the internet. One concern is that the identity theft may go unnoticed until many years later, when the victim becomes an adult and applies for a credit card. Authorities say that often the crime is committed by the children's own parents or relatives, who apply for credit using the child's social security number.

These crimes can go unreported because victims who do eventually discover the crimes do not seek legal ramifications against loved ones. The vice president of public education at Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus, advises parents to "monitor their child's online activity; do not ignore the junk mail the child receives; if they sign up their child for a magazine subscription to put it under their name; and do not let children keep their Social Security cards in their wallets." Moreover, if parents suspect their children's identity was stolen, they should check immediately to see if a credit file was created on their child.

Source: STLtoday.com

Fake check scams are becoming more common and can cost you a lot of money! Most commonly, these scams are targeted at people who are selling something via advertisement (online, newspaper, etc). These scammers often say he/she is from another country, claiming difficult/complicated money sending. The scammer will then tell you that someone in the US who owes them money will send you a check--often it will be for more than the sale price of the good for sale. Then, the scammer will ask you to keep your share of the money and to wire the rest to the scammer. The checks may look real; but they are fake! Do not deposit these checks!

This scam has different variations, common ones are: work from home jobs and sweepstakes winnings "advance".

You are responsible for checks you deposit, so if you feel you may have a check from one of these scams report it immediately to the National Fraud Information Center, 800-876-7060, http://www.fraud.org.

Some helpful Web sites with more information:

• www.fakechecks.org
• www.fraud.org
• www.ftc.gov

LendingTree customers have been notified by letter that several of its former employees gave mortgage lenders access to confidential customer records including Social Security numbers, income and employment information from October 2006 to early 2008. The number of affected customers has not been released, but LendingTree believes the mortgage lenders only used the information to market their own mortgages to customers. The company has sued the involved parties and has enhanced its security system.

Source: Reuters

Some of our members have received an e-mail claiming to be from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) requesting the recipients confirm their debit and credit card information. The claim is that "some federal credit unions systems have been accessed by terrorist organization attackers." PEFCU does not provide any specific member information to NCUA and there is no legitimate financial institution that would ever ask for such information.

If you ever receive an e-mail such as this, please contact PEFCU before providing any financial or account information. It is always better to be extra cautious when it comes to your financial security.

The most recent telemarketing scam involves automated telephone solicitation calls where the automated attendant states there is a "problem with your credit card", encouraging you to press a number to speak to a live person who can help you with the "problem with your credit card". When call recipients press the number the automated attendant provides, the call is forwarded to a live person who then asks if you are waiting to speak to someone to lower your credit card APR, extending your credit line, etc. At this point, the caller will try to sell some type of credit line product.

Although Indiana does have a Telephone Privacy Law which protects consumers from unwanted sales calls, we have received reports of telephone solicitations made to households that are on the Indiana No Call List.

This type of call violates the No Call Provision of the Indiana Telephone Privacy Act. Such calls should be reported to the Attorney General. Visit http://telephoneprivacy.inatg.us/ or call 800-382-5516 to report this type of call activity or to add your phone number to the No Call registry.

From Visa U.S.A. Inc.

Consumers are advised to be on alert for a new identity theft exploit known as the "Jury Duty Scam." In this scam, the fraudster telephones his/her victim posing as a local court official who claims the victim has failed to report for jury duty, and as a result, a warrant has been issued for their arrest. The victim will rightly claim they never received any jury duty notifications. To "clear things up," the fraudster then asks for confidential information (i.e., social security number, birth date) for "verification" purposes or payment information (i.e., credit card number, bank account details) for alleged fines.

This is a scam! Consumers are urged not to give any personal information over the phone! These fraudseters are attempting to commit identity theft by appealing to the victim's sense of social conscience and fear of prosecution.

Web scammers are turning to online property forums to collect personal information about users for later attempts to swindle them out of money. Renters and buyers often post phone numbers, instant messenger nicknames, and e-mail addresses on forums along with specific descriptions of the kind of property they're looking for. This makes it easy for scammers to write proposals that will elicit further information.

The scammer then contacts the property seeker, offering them a similar property to what they have described, complete with photos. The potential victim is also often asked a range of other personal questions, such as their occupation, marital status, and even if they have a pet. But there's a catch: the scammer usually asks for a deposit before the seeker can see the property. The requested deposit is usually below market price, another way the scammer tries to lure the victim. The e-mail pitches are similar to the so-called 419 scams, which offer some greater reward in exchange for money in advance.

From ScamBusters.org

If you want to be sure you're not the next victim of a foreign lottery scam, here are five tips:

• First of all, playing any kind of cross-border lottery system is a violation of Federal law, and law enforcement officials ARE paying attention. IOW, it's illegal. Don't do it!
• You can't win a prize in a lottery if you didn't buy a lottery ticket.
• Real lotteries don't ask you to pay a fee. If you have to write a check to win a lottery prize, it's a scam. IOW, never, ever send any money for 'processing fees,' or share any other financial information, in order to claim a prize.
• Never fill out any prize forms or 'claims' either through snail mail or online -- you may end up on scammers' 'sucker' lists as a result, which means you'll just get more solicitations.
• Don't believe -- or pay for -- any 'secret systems' that will help you win lotteries. If someone really had a foolproof secret system to win lotteries, why would they sell it to you?