In today’s digital age, scammers are becoming more sophisticated in their tactics to steal your personal and financial information. To help you stay safe, here’s how “spoofing” works, along with valuable tips and red flags to watch out for.

Imagine you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the Bronco Federal Credit Union Fraud Department. They tell you there’s suspicious activity on your account and urgently request sensitive information, such as your online or mobile banking login credentials, your full card number, and even your PIN. To make matters worse, they ask you to accept a “fraud alert” to approve a pending transaction.

Beware! This is a classic spoofing trick.

Red Flags to Look For

• Never Share Sensitive Information: Bronco Federal Credit Union and other legitimate organizations will never ask you to disclose sensitive information over the phone. This includes online or mobile banking login credentials, full card numbers, PINs, or one-time passcodes.
• Legitimate Fraud Alerts are for Verification: Real fraud alerts are designed to empower you to verify the authenticity of transactions. They won’t ask for your sensitive information.
• Trust Your Instincts: If someone claiming to be a Bronco employee asks for information we already have, hang up immediately. Scammers use high-pressure tactics to create a false sense of urgency.

Staying Safe: Your Personal Responsibility

Your account security is our top priority, but you also play a crucial role in keeping your information safe. Follow these steps to protect yourself:

• Never share personal information over the phone unless you initiated the call and are certain about the recipient’s identity.
• If a call makes you feel pressured or uncomfortable, don’t hesitate to hang up.
• If you have any concerns about your account’s security, reach out to us directly at 757.569.6000. You can also send us a secure message through Online24.

By staying vigilant and following these guidelines, you can help prevent fraudulent activities and keep your personal and financial information secure. Remember, when in doubt, verify and trust your instincts. Your safety is our priority!

Members have reported receiving text and phone calls from scammers acting as Bronco Federal Credit Union employees. As a reminder, we will NEVER ask you for sensitive information including secure access codes. If you’re in doubt, hang up and call us at 757-569-6000 or after hours call the number on the back of your card.

Learn more about staying safe from spoofing scams here.

The holiday season is always a time for increased instances of fraud. One way fraudsters use to fool people is with call spoofing.

Call spoofing is when a spam caller disguises themselves as another number.  Unfortunately, often times these spam callers are using technology to hide their phone number and display it as a trusted phone number, like ours (or other financial institutions, businesses, or government entities.)

Any time you get a call from Bronco Federal Credit Union, if you feel it is suspicious at all, please hang up and call us back.

Remember:

• We will never call you and ask you for your full account number, full social security number, or debit or credit card numbers as we already have this information in our system.
• We also will not ask you for your Online24 password or PIN code for your debit card.
• We are never going to threaten to freeze or shut down your accounts if you do not provide us the information listed above.

One of the many benefits of Bronco is that we are local and you can call or come in to one of our offices for us to help you if you receive any suspicious phone calls or emails.

Please remain diligent with checking your accounts daily and remain aware that criminals are using all forms of technology to try to scam consumers. You cannot be too careful. Just know that we are here and are more than willing to help!