Fraud Prevention

During these tough economic times, criminals are growing more creative in their acts of fraud. There seem to be a lot of letters, phone calls and e-mails going around right now, offering everyone the chance to get a lot of money for doing very little. That by itself is almost a sure sign of a scam.

You work hard for your money, and Rocky Credit Union doesn’t want some crook from who-knows-where to end up with your life savings. Be on the look out for a few of the following typical warning signs that a criminal is out to get your money:

• •You are selling something, usually through an internet site. The purchaser sends you a cheque that is larger than the amount needed. When contacted, the buyer blames the secretary or accountant and says you can cash the cheque and send the difference by money order or official order. You go ahead and do this, mailing the money order right away. Their cheque then bounces, but you are out the difference of the money order amount.
• •You have just won a large international lottery. All you have to do is send in some money to take care of the processing fees, and millions will be yours. Once you’ve sent in the processing fees, they will probably ask for some legal and international tax payments as well. If you have to send in money to claim a prize, it is probably a fraudulent contest.
• • Someone’s family is trapped with millions of dollars in a country in political upheaval. If you lend them money to bribe the guards and bankers there, once they get the millions out of the country they will then give you a cut. This scam has been around for centuries, but gets changed with letters and world wars. It’s commonly called the Nigerian Scam, as that is where the letter often says the family is trapped with its money, although criminals have used other countries as well.
• • You receive an e-mail from your bank or credit card company requesting that you click on the link in the e-mail and enter your birthday or credit card number (or some other personal information) at a website to verify your identity. Sometimes they say your card or online account will expire if you do not log in. Note: Your financial institution will never initiate a request for personal information through e-mail as e-mails are unsecured and un-encrypted. Only go to your financial institution’s online banking website through the actual website, not the one listed in the e-mail. The site links sent to you in fraudulent e-mails often list a website that is very close to your bank’s site. Do not go through it, or you will enter your information onto the criminal’s server and they will have it to use.

The above are some of the most common signs of a scam. Please do not fall for any of them.

You can visit the excellent and informative RCMP site at www.phonebusters.com for more information about the many types of scam out there, and what you should do if you have fallen for a scam.