You’ve Got Mail: Be Careful

When checking incoming e-mail messages, be careful whom you respond to. The same scams that have been conducted by conventional mail or phone now can be found on the Internet.

CUNA Mutual Group, a financial services provider to credit unions and members, has issued a warning about a fraudulent e-mail that notifies receivers that they’re under an IRS (Internal Revenue Service) audit. The message asks the receiver to fill out a questionnaire within 48 hours to avoid penalties and requires sensitive information such as Social Security numbers and financial institution account numbers.

Beware: The IRS doesn’t send notification of audits through e-mail, nor does it conduct “e-audits” that are mentioned in the message.

In a similar hoax, Bank of America and the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) report that a scam artist, claiming to be a bank representative, sent an e-mail to thousands of people. The scammer told them that customer information verification was needed for a systems upgrade, attempting to get recipients to divulge their account numbers and other personal data. If you ever have questions about e-mail communication you receive regarding the credit union, contact us at 800-667-BFCU (2328) or 757 569-6000.

E-mail was used in 18% of Internet scams during the first 10 months of 2001--up 12% from the previous year, according to the National Consumers League’s National Fraud Information Center.

Copyright 2002 Credit Union National Association Inc. Information subject to change without notice. For use with members of a single credit union. All other rights reserved.