Beware of Fraudsters

Have you ever received an email from a random individual offering you a job, and even better – advance pay before you have even interviewed? What about receiving a message from someone who claims they are romantically interested in you and within days requests to deposit a check into your account with the promise to designate a portion of the cash to you?  Have you ever heard the saying, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is”? Well that applies to these scenarios.

Recently, our Fraud Department has noticed an influx of our members falling prey to scams like these. Let me break down these two scenarios a little bit better.

Scenario 1: At some point in the past year or so, you have posted your resume on a job search engine. One day, you receive a job offer sent to your personal email describing a position the “employer” is pretty much giving to you with the promise of a paycheck before you even start. All you have to do is send your account information and you’re set! Should you send any of your information? NO. In fact, you should block the sender and report the email as spam.

Scenario 2: You have recently started online dating. After exchanging some messages with a promising contender for your heart, they ask if they can deposit a check into your account. Even better – since you two are exclusive, they want to provide you with some money for the trouble and have offered to deposit the check on their end using RDC (remote deposit capture). You agree and send them your login information. They download the app on their mobile device, deposit the check, and boom – your balance increases $5,000.  All you have to do is head to the credit union and withdraw the amount they want you to send to them. The things we do for love!

Both of these situations have one thing in common – you never meet the person on the receiving end. You never meet your “employer” nor do you ever meet your new “crush”. In the end, you’re the one with the negative balance in your account, and your information is in the hands of a scammer somewhere in the world.

So, what can you do to avoid these types of situations? Never give out any of your account information or personal information.  Stop all communication with the fraudster – they will be very persistent. These scams are common no matter what age you are. If you find yourself in a similar situation, please call our Fraud Department immediately at 505-342-8871.